In March, after a lengthy dispute, the traffic light factions agreed on a nationwide legal basis for the introduction of a payment card for refugees. Now the Bundestag has voted on it.
The Bundestag has decided on a nationwide legal basis for the introduction of a payment card for refugees and asylum seekers. In the future, they should receive part of the state’s living expenses as credit and no longer as cash. Among other things, this is intended to prevent migrants from transferring money to smugglers or family and friends abroad. Parliament voted in favor of it on Friday in Berlin with the majority of votes from the traffic light factions SPD, Greens and FDP, and the AfD and BSW also voted in favor. The CDU/CSU and the Left as well as a Green MP voted against it.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the state prime ministers agreed on the introduction of the card on November 6th. The law now states that the service authorities can decide for themselves how much cash cardholders can withdraw within a certain period of time. This takes “individual needs and local circumstances” into account.
No money can be transferred abroad using the payment card
The card is “a clear yes to helping people who are looking for protection and need support in Germany,” emphasized Faeser. At the same time, however, it is also a “clear no to transferring social benefits to smugglers and smugglers abroad”.
The payment card can therefore be used to pay for everyday goods and services such as groceries. However, the ability to withdraw cash will be restricted; Transfers abroad should also no longer be possible.
The Federal Cabinet had already approved the draft law for a nationwide payment card regulation at the beginning of March. The Greens then reported a need for clarification on details. They also pointed out that the federal states could introduce the card even without federal regulations. They in turn pushed for such a legal basis.
Faeser criticized the countries on Friday. “It’s so good that we’re regulating this today, uniformly for the Federal Republic,” she said. “Individual countries would have been free to implement this in recent years.”
The SPD politician described the payment card as a “contemporary digital form of providing services”. This will provide a noticeable reduction in the burden on the authority. Among other things, they no longer have to hold cash for payouts.
Source: Stern
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