- Union for the Harshness of Refugees: From Learning to Parking?
In the CDU and CSU, calls for performance cuts for asylum seekers and Ukrainian war refugees are growing louder. CSU parliamentary group leader Alexander Dobrindt called for "a new social performance system for asylum seekers" that would be below the citizen's income. The parliamentary business manager of the Union faction, Thorsten Frei (CDU), said: "The excesses in the citizen's income and in the integration measures for asylum seekers leave many people speechless."
Dobrindt told the "Bild" newspaper: "Those who refuse reasonable work will face performance cuts." SPD interior politician Helge Lindh accused Dobrindt in the newspapers of the Mediengruppe Bayern of "unspeakable populism." The benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act may not be reduced for constitutional reasons, as a dignified life would no longer be possible. "If the Union listened more to experts in foreign offices and job centers and less to the power of prejudices, it would serve everyone," Lindh said.
Ukrainian refugees have been a target of criticism for some time. There have been demands for lower state transfers to Ukrainian war refugees. FDP general secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai had demanded that future Ukrainian women and men should no longer be granted citizen's income, but benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. Brandenburg's interior minister Michael Stübgen (CDU) had argued that the citizen's income had become a "brake on job entry." The Federal Ministry of Labor, however, argued that the citizen's income and thus the responsibility of the job centers could achieve faster and more targeted integration into the labor market, which would also be beneficial for Germany given the skills shortage.
The war refugees from the Ukraine - like in other EU countries - were taken in under the so-called mass influx directive. Shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the EU activated the directive in March 2022. Those affected did not have to submit an asylum application. However, Germany had called for a fairer distribution of refugees in Europe, as particularly many affected people lived in Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic. Ukrainian refugees receive citizen's income - asylum seekers receive benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act. Only when they are recognized as refugees, they - if in need - have a claim to citizen's income.
Government wants to bring refugees into jobs faster
Federal Minister of Labor Hubertus Heil (SPD) had announced a program in the fall to mediate refugees from Ukraine and other asylum seekers more quickly and sustainably into regular jobs on the first labor market. The "Job-Turbo" started in 2024 - job centers, municipalities, states, companies, and associations are working together. Among other things, additional staff in the job centers are taking care of the refugees. The federal budget for the year 2024 was only approved in mid-January, and fresh money for this was released.
A larger portion of the Ukrainian refugees placed in jobs are working in helper positions, such as in the kitchen, household, or care. For instance, in the Nuremberg region, around 40 percent have taken jobs that require training or certification in Germany. However, 60 percent have been placed in helper jobs, said Renata Häublein, head of the Nuremberg Jobcenter, to Bayerischer Rundfunk. According to the federal special envoy for the "Job-Turbo," Daniel Terzenbach of the Federal Employment Agency's board, around 6,800 Ukrainian refugees found jobs in the primary labor market nationwide in April, more than double the number in April 2022, when around 2,850 Ukrainians were employed.
Heil pointed to figures from the employment agency indicating that around 192,000 Ukrainians were in socially insured employment in Germany, with 48,000 in low-wage jobs. In November, Heil mentioned a total of 400,000 refugees who had completed or were about to complete their integration course and would then be available to the labor market. Heil urged companies not to have too high expectations regarding the language skills of the refugees: "Even those who do not yet speak our language perfectly can successfully launch their careers."
FDP calls for more differentiation within the citizen's income system
FDP politician Pascal Kober advocated for stronger differentiation among benefit recipients overall. "It's time to question whether we don't need different regulations for the citizen's income for the various affected groups," the FDP's labor market expert told the Rheinische Post. Differentiation could be made between those who top up their income with citizen's income, long-term unemployed with often many health problems, and immigrants. A spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Labor replied: "I don't know on what basis one could set certain rules for members of certain ethnicities." Nevertheless, the government wants to legally address individual cases.
CDU politician: "Learn language in the morning, maintain the park in the afternoon"
CDU politician Frei told the newspapers of the Mediengruppe Bayern that he didn't understand why refugees couldn't work alongside their language courses. "There must be a difference in the benefits between citizens who have worked for years and people who have fled here or are work-capable but have not pursued any paid activity for years." Work placements to support municipalities could be part of an integration process.
CDU interior politician Alexander Throm proposed introducing a "mandatory charitable service" for refugees. "Learn language in the morning, maintain the park in the afternoon. Everyone must contribute," Throm told Bild. CSU interior politician Andrea Lindholz told the Mediengruppe Bayern: "For example, those who are tolerated and have been granted protection in another EU country but refuse to return there should only receive a two-week transitional allowance plus travel allowance." This would require a change in the Basic Law.
The calls for performance cuts for asylum seekers, including Ukrainian war refugees, have led to discussions about a new social performance system for asylum seekers that would be below the citizen's income. Despite these discussions, the benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act cannot be reduced for constitutional reasons, as it would no longer be possible to provide a dignified life.
Despite the integration efforts for Ukrainian refugees, a large portion of them have been placed in helper positions, such as in the kitchen, household, or care. For instance, in the Nuremberg region, around 60% of Ukrainian refugees have been placed in such positions, according to the head of the Nuremberg Jobcenter, Renata Häublein.
