Call to end Ukrainian refugee benefits sparks debate in Germany
Benefits for Ukrainian refugees are becoming increasingly controversial in Germany. One German politician is even calling for their discontinuation. According to him, this will force a greater number of Ukrainians to seek employment.
Currently, around 700,000 Ukrainians, mostly children, receive the so-called citizen's allowance in Germany. At the same time, criticism is growing regarding the level of support provided to Ukrainian refugees.
Some German politicians are against this, including Bijan Djir-Sarai, the general secretary of the liberal FDP, according to Deutsche Welle (DW).
Tax money is used for "financing unemployment"
"Newly arriving war refugees from Ukraine should no longer receive citizen's allowance in the future, but should fall under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act," said Bijan Djir-Sarai in an interview with "Bild," suggesting that this will force more Ukrainians to seek employment.
He also emphasized that there is a labour shortage in Germany, especially in the hospitality and construction industries, and in the care sector. According to him, the German government should not use tax money to "finance unemployment".
We should rather ensure that these people find employment, said the German politician.
No plans to limit assistance
Meanwhile, Scholz's SPD and the Greens reject this idea. Similarly, the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW) president, Marcel Fratzscher, called it "pure populism".
No one will be better off, no one will have a single euro more, if Germany treats refugees worse and cuts their benefits - he emphasised.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz shares a similar view. His associates informed me that there are no plans to limit assistance for Ukrainian refugees.
According to government data from March 2024, about 1.3 million people with Ukrainian citizenship live in Germany, mostly women and children. Data from the Federal Ministry of the Interior also shows that about 260,000 of them are men aged 18 to 60.
