Pro asylum against card:

“Refugees will then have no money for cell phones”

(Bild: AFP)

Money transfers abroad are no longer possible, the payment card for refugees is coming - albeit in Germany, and not in Austria, where the issue is only being discussed very tentatively. We are no strangers to it: our neighbors have also formed a pro-asylum front against the new card. One of the arguments: Refugees will no longer have money for cell phones. The model is against "human dignity".

According to media reports, refugees transfer up to 43.5 billion euros abroad every year; according to the FAZ, this figure was already more than 18 billion in 2018 - meaning that taxpayers are indirectly subsidizing asylum seekers in their home countries. Our neighbors have now come up with the idea of a payment card to prevent refugee aid from flowing across the border.

What can the new card do?
Bank transfers are blocked. From now on, social benefits can no longer be used to repay smugglers' loans.

The card does not work abroad. The cards for our goods are already invalidated on a trip to Austria. Refugees have to stay in their neighborhoods.

Only minimal amounts can be withdrawn, a kind of pocket money. The card is used to buy clothes, food etc. No online purchases from abroad. Immediate blocking in the event of misuse.

Refugees in Germany

(Bild: AFP)

(Bild: AFP)

Who is against it
In Germany, it is primarily the organization Pro Asyl that - unsurprisingly - does not believe in the refugee card and explains why:

Statement 1
"Bank transfers should not be possible: without a transfer option, refugees are excluded from everyday life. However, bank transfers are indispensable nowadays - for example for a cell phone contract and small online purchases. Refugees must also be able to pay the lawyers they need for their asylum procedure by bank transfer."

However, bank transfers are indispensable nowadays - for example for a cell phone contract and small purchases on the Internet.

Pro Asyl

Statement 2
"No minimum amount for cash withdrawals: The ability to withdraw cash is primarily necessary to ensure the constitutionally guaranteed socio-cultural minimum subsistence level. Anyone who attacks this is attacking the human dignity of those affected. Anyone who lives without cash in Germany and can only buy a few things in a few stores loses self-determination and experiences humiliation, for example when the euro for the public toilet or the contribution to the class fund is missing".

Statement 3
"Regional restriction: The regional restriction of the card is obviously an attempt at socio-political harassment to restrict the freedom of movement of those affected through the back door: Anyone who visits relatives or friends or wants to visit a specialist or advice center further away can get into serious difficulties if they can't even buy a bottle of water."

And what are the benefits of the card?
Two districts in Thuringia have shown that some asylum seekers are leaving again, preferring cash to a payment card. In December, there were 15 asylum seekers there. An interesting fact, given that it has always been said that social benefits are not a pull factor ...