The payment card for asylum seekers is intended to reduce the administrative burden on cities and municipalities. It is unclear whether this will work. In North Rhine-Westphalia, municipalities should be able to decide for themselves about the payment card.
The state of North Rhine-Westphalia gives municipalities the freedom to decide whether to introduce the controversial payment card for asylum seekers. The cities and municipalities would also have to bear the costs of introducing the card themselves, said a spokesman for the state government of Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU). WDR: “There are no plans for the state to cover the costs incurred in the municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia – also in view of the relief associated with the introduction. On the other hand, there will be no obligation for the municipalities to join in North Rhine-Westphalia.” The federal government will also not contribute to the costs associated with the introduction of the payment card.
Last week, 14 of the 16 federal states agreed on a timetable for a payment card for asylum seekers. The introduction is planned for summer or autumn at the latest. “With the introduction of the payment card, we are reducing the administrative burden on municipalities, preventing the possibility of transferring money from state support to the countries of origin and thereby combating inhumane smuggling crime,” said Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris Rhein (CDU) as chairman of the Prime Minister’s Conference.
Countries decide on the amount
With the card, asylum seekers are supposed to receive part of the benefits they are entitled to as credit instead of in cash in accordance with uniform standards. The card should work without an account connection and can be used nationwide in all industries. The countries themselves decide on the amount and other additional functions and can restrict use regionally and exclude sectors.
When the North Rhine-Westphalia state government says that there should be no “compulsory affiliation” for municipalities, it raises questions. Does this mean that a patchwork of different regulations is now emerging in states and municipalities? That each municipality decides for itself how to deal with the payment card? The uncertainty is great.
No comment from the responsible ministries
“The state must now sit down with the municipalities and discuss with them what the map should do in detail and to what extent the cities and municipalities can use it,” said a spokesman for the Association of Cities and Municipalities in Düsseldorf. “It is clear to us that the federal and state governments must cover the costs in full.”
Helmut Dedy, managing director of the Association of Cities, said: “The new payment card for asylum seekers will only bring progress if the administrative burden on site is reduced and the costs for the new system are not borne by the municipalities.” It must be ensured that the cash card is easy to use, both for asylum seekers and the municipalities. “The cities don’t want a patchwork quilt: the payment card must be used throughout the country.”
At the request of the WDR There was no comment from Hesse, which coordinates the state-federal working group on payment cards, nor from the Federal Ministry of the Interior or the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs.
In Lower Saxony, discussions are currently underway between the state government and municipalities about the design of the payment card, said a spokeswoman for the State Chancellery in Hanover. The approach is different in Saxony: When asked, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of the Interior said that municipalities were “free to introduce payment cards themselves as an interim solution and to switch to the national variant in due course.”
It remains to be seen whether a similarly confusing situation could arise in other federal states, as is the case in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Bayern wants to be “faster and harder”.
Bavaria and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania also want to introduce the payment card, but are going their own way when it comes to issuing them. Bavaria’s Prime Minister Markus Söder (CSU) said on Twitter on Sunday: “Our payment card comes faster and is harder.”
Cash is available in the Free State “only as small pocket money of up to 50 euros,” announced Söder. Only goods for everyday use could be purchased in shops. Online shopping, participation in gambling and transfers abroad would be stopped. According to a report in the “Bild” newspaper, Söder wants to launch the “Bayern Card” as a pilot project in four municipalities in a month.
Complicated situation for Wüst
In North Rhine-Westphalia, the situation is not easy for Prime Minister Wüst, who, like Söder, is one of the Union’s possible candidates for chancellor. On the one hand, the CDU politician repeatedly goes on the offensive against the traffic light coalition in the federal government when it comes to asylum and has been calling for tougher measures against “irregular migration” for months. On the other hand, Wüst governs in Düsseldorf together with the Greens, who had long opposed a payment card for asylum seekers.
His party colleague, Social Affairs Minister Karl-Josef Laumann, had also emphasized his skepticism in October: People were coming to North Rhine-Westphalia and Germany in need and “not for fun and foolishness.” In the state parliament, the opposition factions SPD and FDP are now calling for clarity regarding payment cards.
Skeptical tones come from science: In an interview with the WDR-Magazine “Westpol” Social scientist Özgür Özvatan from the Humboldt University in Berlin doubted that state social benefits would be a “pull factor” for asylum seekers to come to Germany. What is more important are “push factors” such as state persecution and war. Migration researchers also warn against overestimating the importance of cash or card payments for the decisions of asylum seekers.
Pro Asyl views the payment card critically
Refugee aid organizations are very critical of the payment card plans anyway. The states had designed the payment card “quite bluntly as a discrimination tool to deter refugees,” said Pro Asyl. “The payment card ‘standards’ agreed upon by the states are merely the lowest common denominator that the federal states were able to agree on. It is now the responsibility of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia to provide municipalities with human rights-based quality specifications for implementation that is as non-discriminatory as possible,” said Andrea Kothen from Pro Asyl.
In principle, the state must equip the municipalities appropriately in order to be able to organize the reception of refugees in a “sensible and humane” manner. “As far as the costs of a payment card are concerned, there is a simple solution for municipalities: forgoing the payment card and instead transferring the benefit amounts to a normal bank account. This is the cheapest, easiest and non-discriminatory way,” says Kothen.
In Germany, asylum seekers and people with temporary toleration are entitled to a roof over their heads as well as food, clothing, healthcare and consumer goods. Instead of such benefits in kind, vouchers or cash benefits are sometimes provided. The rates range between 278 euros for children up to five years old and 410 euros for single adults or single parents. After 18 months, the rates increase to approximately the same level as regular social assistance.