As of: March 23, 2024, 5:16 a.m
By: Peter Sieben
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The payment card for asylum seekers could soon be used.
The federal migration commissioner is calling for additional integration measures.
Berlin – The debate about payment cards for refugees continues to gain momentum.
The concept of providing cashless benefits to asylum seekers will also be discussed at the Integration Ministers' Conference on Wednesday and Thursday in Rostock.
Many supporters of the payment card argue that the payment card eliminates so-called pull factors for people, i.e. incentives to come to Germany.
Payment card for refugees: “Debate about alleged pull factors is pointless”
Reem Alabali-Radovan, Minister of State under the Chancellor and Commissioner for Migration, doubts this. “The debate about alleged pull factors that we would supposedly combat with a payment card is not productive,” she said in an interview with
IPPEN.MEDIA
.
“Surveys and studies show that proportional cash benefits are really not a reason why people flee to us.
In Senegal, for example, only eleven percent of those surveyed said that the prospect of social benefits was a reason for their intention to migrate,” said the SPD politician.
The payment card was the request of the states, which the federal government is now implementing.
“It is important to me that the payment cards are designed to be non-discriminatory, with less bureaucracy, that is the real goal.”
Reem Alabali-Radovan has been Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Migration and Refugees since 2021.
© Peter Sieben
Work ban for asylum seekers still relevant?
“Clearly no”
In the run-up to the Integration Ministers' Conference, Alabali-Radovan also spoke out against a work ban for asylum seekers and people with toleration status.
When asked whether such a ban was still appropriate, she said: “Clearly not.” That is why immigration authorities are also required to issue work permits to people with toleration.
“This is now a target provision, no longer purely a matter of discretion – a small difference with hopefully a big impact.”
The integration of refugees should become a mandatory task for municipalities
She demands that integration become a mandatory municipal task.
Municipalities would then be obliged to provide funds for the topic in their budgets.
Many municipalities currently feel left alone by the federal government when it comes to accepting refugees.
“We take this very seriously in the federal government; it is a joint effort,” said Alabali-Radovan.
“That is why we have agreed for the first time on permanent federal funding, with a fixed amount per asylum seeker, as a breathing cap that is adjusted depending on the situation.”
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Minister of State Reem Alabali-Radovan in conversation with editor Peter Sieben in the Federal Chancellery.
© IPPEN.MEDIA
Under federalism, this money cannot go directly from the federal government to the municipalities, which is why it is important that the states pass it on “one-to-one directly to the municipalities”.
“I suggest that integration finally be anchored as a mandatory municipal task in the states so that the municipalities have more planning security and can build sustainable structures,” said the State Minister.
Bavaria is taking a special approach when it comes to payment cards for refugees: Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) will give the starting signal for this on Wednesday (March 20th).