Brandenburg: Refugees tackle along - non -profit work is booming!

More and more asylum seekers in Brandenburg do non -profit work in initial reception facilities. This emerges from a request from the AfD parliamentary group, which was confirmed by the Interior Ministry in Potsdam. The number of hours worked rose in 2023 from around 226,000 to 408,200 in the first ten months. By mid-December 2023, around 2,860 residents in Eisenhüttenstadt, Wünsdorf and Frankfurt (Oder), compared to about 3,600 two years earlier, were also taken into account when refugees in Doberlug-Kirchhain were also taken into account.

The possibility of participating in charitable work applies to tolerated or permitted residents of the initial reception facilities. These activities include garden and landscape maintenance, paving work, waste collecting, interpreting and care for children and adolescents. With the amendment of the Asylum Seekers' Performance Act at the end of October 2024, refugees can also work non-profit outside of the initial reception locations. The expenses for these activities rose from 180,800 euros to 326,600 euros.

Introduction of working obligations in the municipalities

At the same time, several municipalities in Germany plan to oblige asylum seekers to work on non -profit work. In Thuringia, the CDU district administrator Christian Herrgott was the first to introduce this model in the Saale-Orla district. The initiative to bring migrants into non -profit jobs was implemented in February 2024. A similar measure followed in the Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt in March 2024. Asylum seekers should work there for around 80 cents per hour, in addition to the control performance.

The legal basis for this obligation was also created by a change in the Asylum Seekers Benefit Act in February 2024. So far, 96 asylum seekers have been assigned a work option in Burgenlandkreis, with 25 people being actively involved. The activities include tidying up parks, mowing lawn and maintaining green areas. It is ensured that no regular jobs are endangered.

Financial sanctions threaten those who do not take part in the work measures. 32 people did not compete in the Saale-Orla district and were accordingly sanctioned. Financial support for unmarried persons decreases from 331.43 euros to just 183 euros per month. Minors, the sick, the disabled and other groups of people are excluded from the obligation to work.

In addition, the participants are offered a language course to promote the integration of migrants and to structure their everyday life. District Administrator Herrgott sees work opportunities as a positive contribution to integration and increasing acceptance in the community, although organizational challenges can occur. Reviews of these measures are rejected as unfounded.