CSU regional group leader Alexander Dobrindt is calling for a reform of social benefits for asylum seekers. “There must be a new social security system for asylum seekers that is lower than the citizen’s benefit,” Dobrindt told “Bild”. There is also a need for “stronger obligations to cooperate when it comes to taking on work”. There must be a “job offer” and this must be part of an integration service. “Anyone who refuses to do reasonable work must expect their benefits to be reduced.”
However, asylum seekers in Germany do not receive a citizen’s benefit, but benefits under the Asylum Seekers’ Benefit Act, which are initially considerably lower than the benefit for citizens. They are only entitled to a citizen’s benefit if they are recognised as refugees – if they are in need. Refugees from Ukraine are immediately considered to be entitled to protection. For this reason, they receive a citizen’s benefit or social assistance from the start.
FDP for more differentiation within the citizens’ monetary system
FDP politician Pascal Kober brings a greater differentiation among benefit recipients into the conversation. “It would be time to ask ourselves whether we don’t need different rules in the area of citizen benefits for the different groups affected,” says the spokesman for labor market policy. the FDP– Bundestag faction of the “Rheinische Post”.
As an example, he gave a distinction between so-called top-up people who depend on citizen money in addition to their job, long-term unemployed people with many mental and health problems and immigrants who could work. “Reasonableness criteria for the latter must take a back seat if the costs and the social mood change,” says Kober.
CDU politician: “Learn the language in the morning, take care of the park in the afternoon”
CDU domestic politician Alexander Throm proposes introducing a “compulsory community service” for refugees. “Learn the language in the morning, take care of the park in the afternoon. “Everyone must make their contribution,” the spokesman for domestic policy for the Union parliamentary group told “Bild”.
Throm also has sharp criticism of the current system: “For years it has been observed that the number of people recognized as having the right to protection among those receiving a citizen’s allowance continues to increase. It is now around 50 percent. This social advantage is increasingly benefiting our citizens, the immigrants, especially the refugees.”