Kruppa criticizes payment cards for refugees

Migration Officer - Kruppa criticizes payment cards for refugees

Thuringia Migration Commissioner Mirjam Kruppa has condemned the introduction of payment cards for some refugees in two Thuringian districts. "This form of payment card stigmatizes people and places drastic and unjustified restrictions on their lives," said Kruppe according to a statement on Friday.

So-called payment cards were officially introduced for certain refugees in the Eichsfeld and Greiz districts on Friday. Those affected receive a smaller amount of money per month than previously paid out in cash, but the payment card is also topped up with a limited amount. However, the cards can only be used in certain regions.

The district of Greiz justified the move with the hope that this would reduce the administrative burden. It also stated that the payment cards could not be used to withdraw cash or make bank transfers - even abroad.

Kruppa: The aim is to persuade people to leave the country

Kruppa questioned the intentions of the districts. In her opinion, the system is not about reducing bureaucracy: "Rather, the aim seems to be to make life as difficult as possible for the people concerned, with the intention of persuading them to leave the country."

Eichsfeld district administrator Werner Hennig (CDU), on the other hand, told the "Thüringer Allgemeine" newspaper (Friday) that he did not see any discrimination in the switch from cash to the payment card. "The legal basis for this has been created by the legislator," the newspaper quoted him as saying.

Uniform standards for nationwide payment cards

At the beginning of November, the federal and state governments agreed that asylum seekers in Germany should in future receive at least part of their benefits as credit on a payment card. Proposals for uniform nationwide minimum standards are to be drawn up by the end of January. One of the reasons given for this step was that asylum seekers would not be able to transfer money from German state support to relatives and friends in their country of origin.

Kruppa sharply criticized this very idea: "Why should it be reprehensible for a young Afghan man to live as frugally as possible in order to send part of the already low benefits he receives to his wife and children in Afghanistan so that they can survive?"

Around 160 payment cards for refugees in Greiz and Eichsfeld

According to an employee of the district administration's press office, around 135 people in Eichsfeld are currently receiving the payment card. In the district of Greiz, there are initially around 30, according to the district office. By the beginning of next year, all 750 asylum seekers currently entitled to benefits in the district of Greiz are to receive such cards.

Asylum seekers and tolerated persons whose asylum application has been rejected, but who are not deported, receive certain social benefits in Germany if necessary to secure their livelihood. At the same time, access to the labor market for refugees in Germany is highly regulated. Especially during the first period of their stay in Germany, most of them are generally not allowed to work at all.

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1. The district of Thuringia, specifically the municipalities in the county of Greiz, including Greiz itself, have implemented a new payment system for some refugees, using payment cards.
2. Criticizing this move, Thuringia's Migration Commissioner Mirjam Kruppa argued that the cards stigmatize refugees and impose unjustified restrictions on their lives.
3. Kruppa also accused the districts of attempting to make life difficult for refugees with the intention of encouraging them to leave Germany.
4. In response, the Eichsfeld district administrator Werner Hennig defended the switch from cash to payment cards, stating that the legislator provided the legal basis for this change.
5. As part of a nationwide agreement between the federal and state governments, asylum seekers in Germany, including those in Thuringia's municipalities and the county of Greiz, will receive a portion of their benefits on payment cards, with proposed uniform minimum standards set to be developed by the end of January.

Source: www.stern.de