Migration: Debate about benefit restrictions for asylum seekers

Given the high level of immigration of refugees to Germany, calls for limiting financial and social incentives are becoming louder. The CDU chairman Friedrich Merz called for those forced to leave the country to be given the right to extended health care benefits after three years at the earliest – so far they have received it after one and a half years. Merz received approval from the FDP.

FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr ultimately called on the states to switch from cash payments to benefits in kind. But there is resistance from the Greens. Federal Finance Minister Christian Lindner (FDP) is examining how money transfers from asylum seekers to their countries of origin can be prevented.

“We must not give any incentives to stay if there is no right to stay in Germany,” Merz told the editorial network Germany about his proposal to double the period until asylum seekers who are obliged to leave the country receive roughly the same health services as insured people. “The message to the 300,000 rejected asylum seekers is currently: You just have to stay long enough and things will get better for you in Germany. We have to correct that,” warned the CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader in the Bundestag.

Who would be affected

According to the Central Register of Foreigners, around 304,000 people were required to leave the country at the end of 2022, around 248,000 of whom had a toleration permit. Tolerated people are people who are obliged to leave the country but cannot be deported for certain reasons. Foreigners and tolerated migrants who are required to leave the country only receive limited health care in the first 18 months in Germany and are not legally insured. They are then looked after by the statutory health insurance companies and receive almost the same benefits as those with statutory health insurance.

A few days ago, Merz triggered strong reactions with statements about dental treatments for rejected asylum seekers. He also urged Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to talk about migration policy the day after the state elections in Bavaria and Hesse this Sunday. Scholz also needs to send a clear signal to potential migrants without grounds for asylum. “The Chancellor must send a clear message to the outside world that also reaches the refugees’ countries of origin: that Germany is no longer able to accept people without grounds for asylum,” said Merz.

He received support from FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Sarai. “If the legal requirements are met, Friedrich Merz’s proposal is the right approach,” he told the “Rheinische Post”. Djir-Sarai also called for aid to no longer be paid out in cash. These payments “are a pull factor and in many cases prevent rapid repatriations, as countries of origin benefit when money is transferred home.”

A kind of ultimatum for the countries

The FDP parliamentary group leader Christian Dürr gave the responsible states a kind of ultimatum. “I expect the countries to clear the way for prepaid payment cards by the next Prime Minister’s Conference on November 6th,” he told the “Bild” newspaper. “Irregular migration must come down – to achieve this, cash payments must be stopped quickly.” If nothing happens by November 6th, “we won’t even have to talk about federal tax money.”

Green party deputy Andreas Audretsch, however, warned of “bureaucratic madness”. Pragmatic solutions are needed, he said. “That means putting people into work, which is good for integration, good for companies that are urgently looking for workers, and good for local communities.” The already heavily burdened municipalities should not now be burdened with new bureaucracy.

FDP leader and Finance Minister Lindner also pleaded for “benefits in kind instead of money” on the t-online portal. He also wants to find ways to prevent asylum seekers from transferring money to their countries of origin. “This could be a source of financing for human smuggling crime.” FDP General Secretary Djir-Sarai welcomed Lindner’s plans in the Bavarian media group’s newspapers.

Laumann also calls for cooperation

North Rhine-Westphalia’s Labor and Social Minister Karl-Josef Laumann (CDU) called on the federal government and the Union to work together. “The traffic light and the Union must now agree on a common line of march in order to turn the adjustment screws that we can turn at the national level,” said Laumann, who is also chairman of the CDU social wing, in a “Stern” Interview. Germany can be very proud of the right to asylum in the Basic Law. “I believe that we must act now to preserve the core of our right to asylum for future generations.”