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A refugee holds a debit card in his hand.
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
In the future, asylum seekers will receive part of their benefits as credit on a payment card.
North Rhine-Westphalia is also preparing for the introduction of payment cards and continued high numbers of refugees.
Düsseldorf - North Rhine-Westphalia's Refugee and Integration Minister Josefine Paul (Greens) expects the planned introduction of a nationwide payment card for asylum seekers to reduce administrative costs.
NRW is taking part in the states' tender process for a joint technical service provider because "of course there are also opportunities in the payment card," said the Green Minister on Tuesday in Düsseldorf.
According to Paul, the payment card could make things easier for refugees because they would no longer have to queue at certain places at certain times.
What is crucial, however, is that the card must really lead to a reduction in administrative costs.
The prime ministers of the federal states and Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) agreed in November that asylum seekers should receive at least part of their benefits as credit on a payment card in the future.
This is also intended to prevent transfers to the country of origin.
According to a report by “Spiegel”, most federal states want to work together on the introduction of the payment card and take part in the tender for a joint service provider for the technical infrastructure.
A federal-state working group should develop proposals for nationwide uniform minimum standards by January 31st.
The state is increasing the number of places for initial reception
In view of the continued high number of refugees, the black-green state government is increasing the number of places for initial and emergency admissions for asylum seekers in the state accommodations.
According to Paul, an increase of around 3,100 places to more than 34,200 is planned for the first quarter of this year.
By the end of the year, the number of places in the state's accommodation facilities is expected to increase by another 7,000 to 41,000.
Initial reception places for refugees are created in hotels, former barracks, youth hostels or event halls.
The largest accommodation in Soest has 1200 places.
As a rule, the number of places in the state accommodations is between 150 and 700. In some cities in North Rhine-Westphalia there was resistance to the establishment of new accommodations.
Newly arriving refugees are initially accommodated in facilities in the state before being distributed to the municipalities.
Unlike in 2015/16, the municipalities would only be assigned asylum seekers who had completed the initial health examination and were registered in the processes of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF), said Paul.
This would also relieve the burden on municipalities.
“We need the cooperation of the municipalities because this is the only way to maintain local acceptance,” said the minister.
The large number of newly created state institutions also shows that it is a difficult undertaking.
Not only are new accommodations being created, but some are also being closed again.
In view of the ongoing refugee access, the country must now “create a long-term perspective”.
Your ministry has formed acquisition teams and brought in an external service provider who are in close contact with the district governments.
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The number of refugees in North Rhine-Westphalia has increased
According to current information from the ministry, the number of asylum seekers in North Rhine-Westphalia rose to a good 64,700 last year - after around 50,700 in 2022. Syria is by far the top country of origin, followed by Turkey, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
In addition, there are around 230,000 refugees from Ukraine who have sought protection in North Rhine-Westphalia since the Russian war of aggression began almost two years ago.
According to Federal Police statistics, 3,379 people who were required to leave the country were deported from North Rhine-Westphalia or transferred to other EU states in 2023 (as of November 30th).
Around 2,500 people obliged to leave the country decided to voluntarily return from North Rhine-Westphalia to their countries of origin.
At the end of November 2023, almost 60,000 people in North Rhine-Westphalia were required to leave the country, the majority of whom have a toleration permit.
dpa