Asylum seekers in Thuringia can solely obtain and make funds of their assigned area
A number of asylum seekers, primarily from Syria and Afghanistan, have left the central German state of Thuringia after native authorities imposed powerful controls on how refugees can spend their advantages, Bild reported on Saturday.
Below guidelines launched in December final yr, asylum claimants are issued with pre-paid fee playing cards as a substitute of money handouts, as a method of stopping them from abusing the system and taking cash out of the state.
The cardboard is just credited if the claimant seems in particular person at a neighborhood workplace, and stays of their assigned district. Buying is allowed wherever Mastercard is accepted, however the card solely works within the area specified by a customized map, making it unimaginable for refugees to make transfers to their house nations.
District administrator Martina Schweinsburg has confirmed that 200 playing cards have been handed out for the reason that change took impact final month, with all 740 refugees within the Greiz district of Thuringia set to obtain one by the tip of the month.
The top of refugee affairs, Dagmar Pohland, advised Bild that the restriction shouldn’t be unreasonable because the legislation requires asylum seekers to remain within the district they have been assigned to for the primary three months.
“Most individuals settle for the change and are completely satisfied that they’re getting one thing in any respect. However again in December, 15 refugees stated ‘We do not need a card, we would like money’ and left shortly afterwards,” the pinnacle of refugee care added.
“Anybody who is actually on the run would not care in regards to the methodology of fee. You purchase garments or meals. However some folks additionally get overpriced cell telephones, particularly youthful folks and solo vacationers,” he defined, including that “the state has allowed an excessive amount of abuse to date.”
The newspaper famous that the full variety of refugees leaving the nation has considerably elevated since then.
Mario Voigt, the pinnacle of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) within the State Parliament of Thuringia since 2020, welcomed the initiative, saying Martina Schweinsburg is demonstrating to different authorities the right way to get refugee coverage so as.
“What the federal and state governments can’t do, robust native communities do,” he stated, as quoted by Bild.
A number of different districts have acknowledged the constructive affect of the measure and stated they are going to comply with swimsuit.
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