As of: March 6, 2024, 10:19 a.m
By: Marcel Reich
Comments
Press
Split
Since June 2022, war refugees from Ukraine have been able to receive basic security benefits (at that time Hartz IV, now citizen's benefit) in Germany.
© Boris Roessler/dpa
The FDP could reconsider the benefits for war refugees from Ukraine.
The low labor rate could be a reason for the change.
Berlin - A parliamentary managing director of the FDP, Stephan Thomae, has signaled his sympathy for demands that Ukraine refugees should no longer receive direct citizen's money in the future.
“The FDP is open to the suggestion that newly arriving war refugees from Ukraine will in future again receive benefits through the right to asylum and not immediately citizen’s money,” said Thomae to the “Augsburger Allgemeine” (Wednesday).
Corresponding demands came from the Union, but also from the German District Association.
Since June 2022, war refugees from Ukraine have been able to receive basic security benefits in Germany (then Hartz IV, now citizen's benefit) instead of the lower benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.
The federal and state governments had agreed on this at the time.
The reason for the change was, among other things, that refugees from Ukraine are directly entitled to a residence permit and therefore do not have to wait for a decision as is the case with asylum seekers.
Thomae told the newspaper: “It is now recognized that the low employment rate of Ukrainian refugees in Germany compared to other receiving countries could not only have to do with language barriers and childcare issues, but also with the small wage gap between citizen's benefit and housing costs low employment income.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the heads of government of the federal states will discuss asylum policy again this Wednesday in Berlin.
With material from dpa