Exchange exchange for refugees: CSU warns of trickery on payment card

Exchange exchange for refugees: CSU warns of trickery on payment card

In Bavaria, a new initiative ensures controversial discussions about the situation of refugees. This initiative, under the name "Open!" company has developed an exchange system that is supposed to handle the payment card for refugees introduced by the CSU. This measure aims to avoid supposed discrimination against those affected and at the same time offer practical solidarity.

The payment card that has been in use in Bavaria since June allows refugees to withdraw 50 euros per month in cash and thus to shop in supermarkets. Critics of the card, such as the Munich initiative, argue that this limitation is not only inadequate, but also limits the integration options of the refugees. According to the initiative, the exchange of supermarket vouchers against cash is found a way, how refugees can make these restrictions.

CSU sees "trickery" and calls for sanctions

The CSU immediately reacted to the exchanges and speaks of a "trickery". Mechthilde Wittmann, domestic spokeswoman for the CSU national group in the Bundestag, emphasizes that the system of payment cards was introduced to avoid abuse. She sees the exchange business as a direct attack on the social system and calls for a precise legal examination of these activities. According to Wittmann, this could be a subsidy for a violation of the asylum seeker performance law, which could lead to fines.

The working group lawyers of the CSU has asked in a decision paper to counteract the "targeted bypass" of the system with "reasonable sanctions". This illustrates the skepticism of the CSU compared to the exchanges that she sees as potential support for breaking rules.

Review of the payment card and its criticism

The payment card itself has been under critical observation since its introduction. Experts, including Hans Vorländer, the chairman of the Council of Experts for Integration and Migration, express concerns about the effectiveness of the system. He points out that scientific knowledge shows that social benefits are not a major reason for refugees to leave their home countries. Instead, they follow security and survival interests.

Vorlände emphasizes that the payment card should actually serve to simplify administrative processes, but this can only work with a uniform regulation in all municipalities. The current system is like a "patchwork" and leads to unnecessary costs, since many cities develop their own systems instead of working together.

The criticism of the payment card is not unilateral; The left have also spoken out. The member of the Bundestag Susanne Ferschl sees the payment card a distraction of basic political measures to combat the causes of flight. Instead of focusing on populist solutions, it demands a serious examination of the real challenges in front of which refugees are facing.

In the middle of this debate, the question remains how the needs of refugees should be dealt with. The initiative "Open!" Shows that there are alternatives, but the political discourse remains heated. While the CSU sees the exchanges as a threat to the social system, others argue that a rethink is necessary to find a fair and integrative solution for the challenges in the field of migration.

More information on this topic can be found in a report on www.tz.de .