Status: 10/16/2022 10:52 a.m
Minister of Labor Heil finds higher aid for Ukraine refugees justified compared to asylum seekers. This status also relieves the municipalities and states. In Germany, Ukrainians are treated like Hartz IV recipients.
Federal Labor and Social Affairs Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) wants to stick to higher aid payments for refugees from Ukraine compared to asylum seekers – even if the influx should increase significantly in winter.
“People are fleeing a terrible war that Putin instigated,” Heil told Berlin’s Tagesspiegel. At EU level, it was decided that refugees from Ukraine do not have to go through an asylum procedure. This means they are entitled to basic security and can start work immediately, emphasized Heil: “There is nothing to take back.”
The federal government pays basic security
According to a decision by the federal government, Ukrainians will be treated like Hartz IV recipients and should thus be able to be integrated more quickly into the labor market. This regulation relieves municipalities and states financially because the basic security is largely borne by the federal government, said Heil.
“We are currently experiencing the largest refugee movement since the Second World War and have managed to help hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine,” emphasized the minister. You shouldn’t allow debates like the one by CDU leader Friedrich Merz about alleged “social tourism” to poison the climate.
District President: Wrong incentives
The president of the district council, Reinhard Sager (CDU), recently called for an end to the betterment of refugees from Ukraine. Since they received the better services directly from the job centers, false incentives would be set. As a result, this leads to more immigration to Germany.
However, human rights organizations have also criticized the worse status of refugees from other countries and are calling for a general improvement.