Even before the refugee summit, the future asylum policy is being hotly debated. The federal government made it clear once again: It will not be about more money for the states and municipalities next Wednesday. The hope lies in solutions at EU level.
Before the refugee summit with the federal states, the federal government emphasized its position on the subject of finance. It’s about “challenges that cannot be solved primarily with money,” said Deputy Government Spokesman Wolfgang Büchner in Berlin. From the point of view of the federal government, “the money is not the focus”. States and municipalities have been asking for more financial support for weeks.
And before the meeting next Wednesday in the Chancellery, several prime ministers of the Union are insisting on higher aid from the federal government. The calls for help from the municipalities would be dismissed by the federal government, said North Rhine-Westphalian Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst the “Spiegel”. “Significantly more funds must flow for accommodation, care and, above all, integration – permanently,” explained the CDU politician.
“The traffic light has failed municipalities and states for far too long when it comes to migration,” said Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder in “Spiegel”. The CSU politician criticized the lack of sufficient financial aid, accommodation from the federal government and orderly control of immigration.
Financing required as required
The Hessian Prime Minister Boris Rhein spoke in the “Handelsblatt” in favor of the future financing of refugee costs by the federal government being based on the number of new arrivals. “The federal government must return to a so-called snooty billing, which means: instead of a lump sum for the states, billing is per capita again,” demanded the CDU politician. The more refugees come, the more money there is.
There was a monthly flat rate of 670 euros per capita for the duration of the asylum procedure until the end of 2021. However, the federal government refers to other measures that result in financial relief for the federal states and municipalities. For example, war refugees from Ukraine do not have to go through an asylum procedure and are immediately entitled to citizen benefits or other social benefits for which the federal government has to pay. The costs for asylum seekers who have not yet been recognized are borne by the federal states and local authorities.
traffic light in funding issues divided
The Greens are helping the states and municipalities and are thus taking a confrontational course within the traffic light government. Greens parliamentary group leader Britta Haßelmann told the broadcasters RTL and ntv that sufficient living space, increased integration and more money for particularly burdened communities must be provided. “We are a community of responsibility: federal, state and local authorities.”
The SPD sees it differently: parliamentary group leader Dirk Wiese emphasized in the Rheinische Post: “It will be very important to take a close look at how much money has already been called up and how much money has been passed on from the states to the municipalities.” For example, North Rhine-Westphalia did not pass on “large sums” to the municipalities. In such cases, “further financial injections from the federal government don’t help either”.
The federal government has already increased support
Vice-government spokesman Büchner emphasized that the federal government supports the federal states and local authorities in the care of refugees “comprehensively financially and logistically within the framework of its national responsibility” and has been doing this more and more for several years.
From the Federal Government’s point of view, it is important “to digitize the migration administration and to create an inter-agency data exchange”, as well as to consistently combat irregular migration and open up regular migration routes. To this end, they want to conclude migration agreements with countries of origin. At the same time, it is necessary to “consistently expel people without a right to stay, as well as criminals and those who are dangerous.”
Faeser wants to limit migration
Interior Minister Nancy Faeser admitted in the “Handelsblatt” that the current refugee situation demands “a lot” from the communities. According to her, a relief for the municipalities should succeed above all by the fact that the migration is “much more” controlled and ordered.
According to the Federal Government, this control should take place at EU level – for example through better protection of the external borders. Faeser called for an increased focus on limiting the number of refugees in the EU. “We will ensure reliable identification, registration and screening of people at the EU’s external borders,” said the minister.
Brussels is currently negotiating “procedures at the EU’s external borders in order to decide within a short period of time on the protection of people with little prospect of asylum in the EU”. This would allow rejected asylum seekers “to be quickly returned from the EU’s external borders,” said Faeser.
“Everything that goes with it, including fences”
Finance Minister Christian Lindner spoke out in favor of protecting the EU’s external borders with fences if necessary. “I believe that in order to establish control, the physical protection of the external border must also be considered,” he said on Thursday in a talk show on RTL and ntv, but emphasized: “I’m in favor of it, if the possibility is more humanitarian and qualified at the same time Immigration will be made easier by law.”
The FDP General Secretary Bijan Djir-Saai also spoke out in favor of a fence at the EU’s external borders. Europe must invest in “everything that goes with it, including fences,” Djir-Sarai told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. He called for “more pragmatism and less moralizing”. Reality should not be ignored. “In the first quarter of this year, significantly more asylum seekers came to Germany than in the same period last year. And the numbers are still rising.”
Around 100,000 people have applied for asylum in Germany for the first time since the beginning of the year. As the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bamf) announced on Friday, the authority counted 19,629 initial applications in April. According to Bamf, 80,978 formal requests for protection were made between January and March. In 2022 as a whole, the Federal Office received 217,774 first-time asylum applications.