migration
Dispute over payment card – Woidke demands approval from the Greens
The payment card is intended to prevent migrants from transferring money to smugglers or to their family or friends abroad. Dietmar Woidke (SPD) also spoke out in favor of such a map with the same argument. photo
© Jens Kalaene/dpa
In the traffic light coalition, views on payment cards for asylum seekers differ. Brandenburg’s head of government sees the Greens as having a duty. And the Mastercard boss also comments.
The SPD politician called on the Greens to give in. “I expect the Greens in Berlin to give up their resistance to an amendment to the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act so that the payment card can be introduced across the board and in a legally secure manner according to the same criteria,” Woidke told the “Tagesspiegel”.
The payment card was recently a reason for a new coalition dispute in the federal government. From the perspective of the SPD and FDP, an accompanying federal regulation is necessary. The Greens consider this to be dispensable and point out that the introduction of the payment card has already begun in Hamburg and is imminent in Bavaria.
At the end of January, 14 of 16 federal states agreed on a joint procurement process to introduce a payment card for asylum seekers, which should be completed by the summer. Among other things, the card is intended to prevent migrants from transferring money to smugglers or to their family or friends abroad. Woidke had previously spoken out in favor of such a chip card with the same argument.
Mastercard boss doesn’t believe in fewer refugees
Mastercard Germany boss Peter Robejsek does not believe that a payment card for refugees will curb migration to Germany. “When I feel really bad and feel forced to leave my home or because I want to build a better life somewhere else, I find it very difficult to believe that people will refrain from doing so just because there are payment cards available.” said Robejsek, whose parents fled from what was then Czechoslovakia, to the “Augsburger Allgemeine”.
“Such a trivial detail would not have stopped my parents from fleeing communism.” He has not yet seen any scientifically based analysis that has established a negative connection between immigration and payment methods. According to Robejsek, the financial service provider Mastercard provides the infrastructure for the payment card.
“The specific design a map should have can theoretically differ from state to state and also from district to district,” he told the newspaper. “That depends on how politicians coordinate at different levels.” Robejsek believes the payment card is above all practical: “If cash and goods are given out to refugees, then it is also incredibly expensive and inconvenient for the administration. With the payment cards the effort is significantly reduced, which is in the interest of the taxpayer.” He doesn’t think it’s discriminatory.