As of: February 21, 2024, 4:18 p.m
By: Sonja Thomaser
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The federal government is relying on payment cards to deter refugees.
Experts disagree – and so does the head of Mastercard Germany.
Berlin – The pros and cons but also the how of the payment card for refugees can be argued.
But one suspicion arises: that the introduction is not about making life in Germany easier for asylum seekers.
Because the possibility for refugees to get cash could take away people's motivation to come to Germany.
Politicians make it clear in their statements: Germany should be made as unattractive as possible for refugees due to the limited use options.
FDP leader Christian Lindner expects a significant number of asylum seekers to leave the country “because our welfare state is suddenly no longer so attractive.” But Mastercard Germany boss Peter Robejsek has bad news for the finance minister.
A refugee holds a debit card in his hand (symbolic image).
© Philipp von Ditfurth/dpa
Mastercard Germany boss calls payment card “trivial detail” when it comes to escape
Robejsek does not believe that a payment card for refugees will curb migration to Germany.
“When I feel really bad and feel forced to leave my home or because I want to build a better life somewhere else, I find it very difficult to believe that people will refrain from doing so just because there are payment cards available.” said Robejsek, whose parents fled from what was then Czechoslovakia, to the
Augsburger Allgemeine.
“Such a trivial detail would not have stopped my parents from fleeing communism.” He has not yet seen any scientifically based analysis that has established a negative connection between immigration and payment methods.
“Social benefits are not a pull factor” – experts against payment cards
The federal government and federal states had already agreed on the payment card for refugees in November.
Among other things, the card prevents refugees from transferring money to smugglers or to their family or friends abroad.
Migration researchers disagree and say that state benefits are not the main reason, i.e. not a so-called pull factor, why people leave their homeland and come to Germany.
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“Perhaps this could lead to fewer people coming to Germany from Albania or North Macedonia, whose asylum applications are usually hopeless anyway.
But it won’t stop Afghans or Syrians from doing so,” emphasized migration researcher Gerald Knaus in an interview with the Austrian daily newspaper
Der Standard
.
The migration researcher Matthias Lücke was also critical of the payment card.
“To the extent that we could cut, social benefits are not a pull factor,” he emphasized at
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
Mastercard boss thinks payment cards are practical
According to Robejsek, the financial service provider Mastercard provides the infrastructure for the payment card.
“The specific design that a map should have can theoretically differ from federal state to federal state and also from district to district,” he told the
Augsburger Allgemeine
.
“That depends on how politicians coordinate at different levels.”
Robejsek believes the payment card is above all practical: “If cash and goods are given out to refugees, then it is also incredibly expensive and inconvenient for the administration.
The payment cards significantly reduce the effort, which is in the interests of taxpayers.” He doesn’t think they are discriminatory.
Traffic light dispute due to payment card
A new dispute recently broke out in the traffic light coalition over the payment card.
From the perspective of the SPD and FDP, there needs to be an accompanying federal regulation.
The Greens do not believe this is necessary and point out that the introduction has already begun in Hamburg and is imminent in Bavaria.
“The question arises as to why something should now suddenly be additionally regulated by law, which is already possible and is already being addressed in a legally secure manner in some federal states,” says Marcel Emmerich, chairman of the Greens in the Interior Committee, to the
Tagesspiegel
.
In Bavaria, the card is scheduled to launch in four municipalities in March and, according to the Interior Ministry, the Free State is right on schedule with the planned introduction.
In Hamburg, cash withdrawals from ATMs are also possible, but only up to a maximum of 50 euros per month plus 10 euros for each child.
Asylum policy: Bavaria with a special route for payment cards
At the end of January, 14 of 16 federal states - including Hamburg - agreed on a joint procurement process to introduce a payment card for asylum seekers, which should be completed by the summer.
Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania are going their own way.
Also because the restrictions and restrictions associated with the map of the other federal states do not go far enough for the Free State.
“Our payment card is harder,” announced Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU).
(so with dpa)