Migration - Support: District council vote in favor of cash card for asylum seekers
Following the vote by the Vorpommern-Rügen district council in favor of cash cards for asylum seekers, the CDU also wants to work towards their introduction in the Schwerin state parliament. "We will take the initiative from Vorpommern-Rügen in the January state parliament as an opportunity to demand a uniform state-wide payment system," announced CDU parliamentary group leader Franz-Robert Liskow on Tuesday. He accused the federal and state governments of only approaching the issue with pointed fingers.
On Monday evening, the Vorpommern-Rügen district council voted in favor of introducing a cash card for asylum seekers. According to the corresponding motion, this should reduce the incentive to come to Germany in the first place. It is also intended to prevent asylum seekers from sending money intended for living expenses back home.
The motion stated: "The district administrator is instructed to take all possible measures to introduce a payment card or a similar system as quickly as possible in order to replace cash payments to asylum seekers as far as possible."
The state premiers and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz had agreed that asylum seekers in Germany should receive at least part of their benefits as credit on a payment card in future. A working group is to draw up proposals for uniform minimum standards across Germany by the end of January. Some members of the district council called for faster implementation, but also warned against rushing ahead.
In Hanover, refugees without a German bank account will in future receive a debit card to pay without cash. Payment cards for refugees are also being tested in two Thuringian districts and the model is to be introduced throughout Thuringia.
Before the district council meeting, district administrator Stefan Kerth had said that the district's own system would probably mean unnecessary expense if the federal government were to set the legal framework shortly afterwards. "And then our system wouldn't fit in." In principle, however, he thinks the project is a good one.
The migration policy spokesperson for the AfD parliamentary group in the Schwerin state parliament called for asylum seekers to not only use the payment card initially. "When introducing a payment card, districts and independent cities should also consistently include the group of people who end up in the social welfare system after 18 months," Jan-Phillip Tadsen was quoted as saying in a press release.
Liskow assumes that the cards will have a clear dampening effect on migration. "In the medium term, however, only a switch to a quota system will help, i.e. changing the individual right to asylum to a quota solution," he was quoted as saying. He also believes that the proposal to clarify the right to asylum outside of Germany makes sense.
Read also:
- A clan member is punished here
- Traffic lawyer warns: Don't talk to the police!
- Will he be convicted as Jutta's murderer after 37 years?
- He also wanted to kill his cousin
- The CDU in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern aims to advocate for the implementation of cash cards for asylum seekers in the Schwerin state parliament, following the district council's vote in Vorpommern-Rügen.
- In response to the Vorpommern-Rügen district council's vote, asylum seekers in Germany may soon receive part of their benefits as credit on a payment card, according to agreements made by state premiers and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
- Asylum seekers in the district of Prepommern-Rügen, specifically in Stralsund, Germany, might be receiving cash cards instead of cash for their living expenses, as per the district council's decision.
- Refugees without a German bank account will benefit from using a debit card for purchases, as seen in Hanover, and there are plans to test and implement similar payment card systems in more districts, like those in Thuringia.
- The CDU parliamentary group leader, Franz-Robert Liskow, sees payment cards for asylum seekers as having a potential deterrent effect on migration, while also expressing the need for a quota system to address the issue in the long term.
- The AfD in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern calls for the consistent inclusion of asylum seekers and other long-term social welfare recipients in the use of payment cards in districts and cities, while still exploring opportunities to clarify the right to asylum outside of Germany.
Source: www.stern.de
