According to Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU), rejected asylum seekers in Bavaria will soon no longer have any money, but rather chip cards for limited purchases of certain goods. “With the chip card you can shop at discounters or bakeries and butchers for your daily needs: for example food, clothing, hygiene items,” said Söder Picture on Sunday. “We are currently discussing the contents of this shopping cart with the relevant authorities.” Alcohol should not be able to be purchased with the chip card.
Söder is repeating an old demand; in 2018 he campaigned with the idea of replacing state cash benefits for asylum seekers with benefits in kind. The chip card has also been under discussion for some time, but has not yet been implemented.
Söder has now also announced a program so that asylum seekers can do more charitable work until their residence status is decided. “It’s about working in construction yards, cleaning parks or planting trees,” explained the Prime Minister. “This should be done everywhere in Germany,” said Söder, who is also CSU leader, around three weeks before the Bavarian state elections.
Söder reiterated his call for a change in migration policy in Germany. “We need a Germany pact against uncontrolled immigration. Otherwise we will endanger the stability of our democracy.” The municipalities are now “completely overwhelmed” with the reception of people. Söder accused the traffic light government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) of not reacting. An “integration limit” with a limit of a maximum of 200,000 migrants per year is needed. This number is based on what the municipalities can achieve.