Refugees | Payment card in Brandenburg: Two years of harassment

In the “Welcome Café” for refugees in a church in Seelow, a young refugee exchanges supermarket vouchers that he was able to buy with a payment card for cash. Photo: dpa/Patrick Pleul The Publk company certainly made good money from the development of the payment card. This is how an alliance of various actors such as the Potsdam Protestant Church District and “Women in Exile” sees it, which is planning a demo in Potsdam and at the Publk office in Charlottenburg on September 25th. This day marks the second anniversary of the introduction of the payment card for refugees in Brandenburg - apart from a few districts that had already made advances.

The initiators have collected more than 2,000 signatures in an online petition, which they will hand over to the state parliament. They want to draw attention to the fact that apart from Publk, only the AfD benefits from the payment card. “Because it helps to normalize everyday racism,” says co-organizer Josephine Furian from the Evangelical Church. Thanks to the support of a Potsdam choir, “we will be audible.”

The payment card means that refugees receive a chip card specially developed for them for shopping. The major supermarket chains accept these cards. However, it is not possible to buy it where it is particularly cheap: at flea markets, in second-hand shops and on the Internet. You also won't get a kebab or a coffee during the break during the German course. Even many pharmacies do not accept payment cards.

Adult refugees can currently withdraw 50 euros in cash per month, children 25 euros. Too little, criticize the organizers of the protest. This is a problem, especially for children, says Furian. Money for class trips, school materials and the like must be paid in cash at school. The payment card is not accepted there. Furian also points to problems with data protection. Social welfare offices could see exactly where and what refugees bought and which lawyer they sought advice from. Even social networks received information via apps that a user was receiving benefits under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act.

»The payment card helps to normalize everyday racism.«

“Everyone pays for it,” is the conclusion of a study by Arbeiterwohlfahrt (AWO) on the payment card. With this, the federal legislature wanted to make it impossible for refugees to misuse social benefits in 2024, especially the transfer of money to their home country. In principle, international transfers are not possible. Money transfers within Germany, such as for the Deutschlandticket or for lawyers, must be approved in advance by the social welfare office. Asylum seekers receive little money anyway. The standard rate for single people is 455 euros per month, which is significantly lower than that for single citizens' benefit recipients, who receive 563 euros. The possibility of misuse is therefore hardly conceivable.

“The payment card makes it more difficult for refugees to participate in social life and does not lead to the hoped-for reduction in administrative burdens for the authorities,” says the study, which was co-authored by Wiebke Bartelt from the AWO Potsdam district association. Simplifying administration was an argument for federal lawmakers to introduce the payment card at all. However, according to the AWO, on the contrary there is additional effort because offices have to approve individual transfers. And according to AWO, this also involves a higher level of care work for social workers in the accommodations.

The city of Potsdam is the only Brandenburg municipality to have decided against the payment card as early as 2024. Refugees in the state capital continue to receive their limited social benefits in cash. Berlin introduced the payment card in August, but only for the first six months of your stay in Germany.

In many places in Brandenburg, initiatives organize the exchange of vouchers for cash. It works like this: The refugees buy vouchers for supermarkets using their payment cards. They hand these over to “exchange points” where they receive the amount of cash corresponding to the value. This is possible because other people buy these vouchers. In Cottbus, for example, the Left party runs such an exchange point. This is being actively used, says Sonja Newiak from Die Linke in Lausitz. “Not only people from Cottbus buy vouchers from us, but also from many other places as far as Berlin.” However, the refugees bring more vouchers than the Left can sell. Nevertheless, around 2,000 euros in cash per month can be passed on to refugees this way.

There are further exchange points in Potsdam, Seelow, Eberswalde, Straußberg, Müncheberg, Kyritz, Perleberg, Pritzwalk and Neuhardenberg. They are run by Protestant parishes or small local initiatives. Because of hostility from the right, some exchanges are unwilling to talk to the media about their work. There have been no problems in Cottbus so far. But the local AfD member of the Bundestag, Lars Schieske, rails against the exchange principle on his website.

The »nd.Genossenschaft« belongs to its readers and authors. They are the ones who make our journalism accessible to everyone through their contribution: We are not backed by a media company, not a large advertising customer or even a billionaire.

Thanks to the support of our community we can:

→ report independently and critically → shine a light on topics that otherwise remain in the shadows → give space to voices that are often silenced → counter disinformation with facts → strengthen and deepen left-wing perspectives

With “Voluntarily pay” you contribute to the financing of our newspaper in solidarity. So that nd remains.