Payment card decision

Resolution of the State Advisory Council for Participation dated 25.11.2024

The State Advisory Council for Participation has decided:

No payment card for Berlin!!

The Governing Mayor of Berlin and the Berlin Senate are called upon to

1. to immediately stop plans to introduce a payment card to pay out social benefits in the state of Berlin in accordance with the model provided for in Section 2 (2) AsylBLG,

2. to launch a Federal Council initiative to amend Section 2 (2) AsylBLG in order to abolish the possibility of providing benefits under AsylBLG in the form of a payment card, and

3. to work nationwide for the decent implementation of the provision of social benefits, in particular under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act, in the Federal Council and in the Minister-Presidents' Conference.

Justification

With an amendment to Section 2 (2) of the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (AsylbLG) of August 5, 1997 (BGBI. I p. 2022), last modified on 08 May 2024 (BGBI. I No. 152), the option of providing social benefits also with the aid of a payment card was introduced. It is up to the federal states to decide whether they make use of the regulation in the respective federal state.

The introduction of the payment card (for refugees) to pay out social benefits violates the principles of human dignity and self-determination under Art. 1 and Art. 2 of the German Basic Law (GG.), as it leads to unequal treatment of asylum seekers, users can be easily recognized, stigmatized and discriminated against and deprived of the right to freely decide where they want to shop and, for example, how many groceries they want to buy per purchase (larger purchases are partly impossible). By indirectly discriminating against people of non-German descent and ethnic origin, the payment card violates Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) ratified by Germany on May 16, 1969, Article 21 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, and EU Directive 2000/43/EC (Anti-Racism Directive). The introduction of the payment card for refugees to strengthen control and restrict access to social benefits is also contrary to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR; ratified by Germany on December 17, 1973), Article 79 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the General Equal Treatment Act of the Federal Republic of Germany (AGG) and October 24, 2024 page 1 of the Berlin State Anti-Discrimination Act (LADG) and on the Act to Promote Participation in Migration Society (PartMigg). Pilot projects in various federal states have shown that the payment card can have a very negative impact on refugees and incur the same, if not higher, administrative costs. This is contrary to the principles of economy and efficiency as defined in the Federal Budget Code (BHO) and the State Budget Regulations (LHO) of the federal states. Within the framework of § 2 LADG and § 5 PartMigG, the Berlin Senate has the obligation, as the only German federal state with a state anti-discrimination law and the task of strengthening equal participation and eliminating structural disadvantages for people with a history of migration, to immediately stop the introduction of the payment card as a format for providing social benefits in the state of Berlin on the basis of § 2 para. 2 AsylbLG.