“We finally need a real will to reform in Berlin politics and no overriding around an increasingly dysfunctional system,” said the Nordhäuser District Administrator Jendricke to the magazine “Stern”.
Anyone who comes into our country and has not paid anything here may only get social benefits as a interest -free loan.
Matthias Jendricke, SPD politician
The Union wants to delete the citizens’ money for all Ukrainian refugees. The SPD defends itself against this demand and emphasizes that only new migrants should be affected by cuts.04.08.2025 | 1:51 min
The push of the two Thuringian SPD politicians encountered approval and criticism. But would he be legally implementable at all? Important questions and answers to the legal situation:
How is the legal situation up to date?
The Asylum seeker Benefits Act regulates what financial and material help in Germany receive. Refugees who cannot make a living through their own income or assets will then receive both money and benefits in kind. Finally, the sentences were reduced.
Since January 1, 2025, single people who live outside of community accommodation have received 441 euros per month. Before that it was 460 euros. This is less than the performance that citizenship receivers receive. Here the standard rate is currently 563 euros a month.
ZDF correspondent Wulf Schmiese reports on the demand for the cancellation of citizens’ money for Ukrainian refugees.04.08.2025 | 1:15 min
Foreigners who have a right of residence for other reasons can also be entitled to citizenship benefit. To do this, you have to be in Germany for some time than three months, and on the other hand, your residence permit must not have been granted to you solely for the purpose of looking for work, training and study.
Asylum services as a loan: Is such a regulation legally possible?
The location on the border between Poland and Belarus continues to come to a head. Again and again groups of refugees succeed in overcoming the EU’s EU border.21.07.2025 | 2:41 min
Serving services are generally granted as a grant. This means that the recipients do not have to repay anything even if they are financially better at some point. A regulation that social benefits have to be refunded would not be compatible with the Basic Law, says Constantin Hruschka, professor of social law at the Freiburg Evangelical University.
If services that ensure the existential minimum would have to be repaid, an incentive would be created for the beneficiaries to do without their claims and to live a life below the subsistence level.
Constantin Hruschka, professor of social law at the Evangelical University of Freiburg
This is unconstitutional, says Hruschka. Whether it is social benefits for Germans, foreigners with a residence permit or asylum seekers make no difference, because the protection of the existential minimum is a human right that applies to everyone.
Municipalities are intended to receive financial compensation from the federal government for tax failures from the “investment booster”. This is also necessary, because the accommodation and integration of refugees require many expenses.28.06.2025 | 5:09 min
However, this raises the question of why middle -class students who receive training funding can be expected to have to repay part of the help. This is how it regulates the Federal Education Promotion Act, which many know under the name Bafög. In this context, Hruschka points out that the promotion of training pursues a different objective than social assistance:
The fact that the BAföG is granted as a loan and not as a subsidy is because it not only ensures the existence, but also to ensure a longer duration, qualifying training, which later leads potentially to a higher income.
Constantin Hruschka, professor of social law at the Evangelical University of Freiburg
For this reason, the Federal Constitutional Court also ruled in 2022 that the design of training funding is compatible with the Basic Law.
If someone does not have the opportunity to pursue a degree due to the lack of financial resources, but instead they have to take on work, this does not affect human dignity, according to the judges. Therefore, the BAföG may also be granted as a loan without the right to secure the subsistence minimum.
As a result, it seems more than doubtful whether a design of social assistance for foreigners based on the model of training funding would be compatible with the requirements of the Basic Law.
Leon Fried, editor in the ZDF specialist editor “Recht und Justiz”.
date: 2025-08-15 17:14:00