Germany: Basic safety required for refugee children

2023-09-28 19:17:33, Kosova & Bota CNA

In the draft law on the basic security of children, which was approved on Wednesday, (27.09.2023) by the German government, children who receive benefits under the law on the benefits of asylum seekers are excluded from the beginning, criticize 23 civil society organizations. Through a statement obtained by the DW editorial office, they appealed to the coalition government to fulfill the requirements of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and include all children living in Germany in basic child insurance.

"The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits discrimination against children on the basis of origin and residential status. All children have the same rights - for example to grow up healthy, participate in society and maintain a minimum standard of living basic child welfare should therefore be a benefit for all children in Germany. Refugee children are at a disadvantage with their peers from the start. We call on the government and parliament to ensure that they are not discriminated against in any way." , the organizations said.

Eric Großhaus, Head of Advocacy for Child Poverty and Social Inequality at Save the Children Germany, adds: "What should bring improvements for all children affected by poverty will actually mean a worsening for some. However , the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Basic Law apply to all children in Germany and must be the basis for all political action. Children's well-being and social participation must not become hostage to migration policy."

The new draft law on basic security for children

The purpose of the Basic Child Insurance Act is to ensure that all children have an equal start in life, regardless of their parents' economic situation. Consequently, it is foreseen that in addition to the basic aid for children, which is currently 250 euros per month, there will be other additional aids, depending on the income of the parents, even if they live on social assistance. But the complicated system of German laws here again allows for an exception: Asylum seekers. This is exactly contrary to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, civil society organizations say.

Germany: Basic safety required for refugee children

Until 2010, Germany applied the children's convention only to citizens with German citizenship. This discrimination was abolished in 2010, as it conflicted with Article 2 of the Convention, according to which any discrimination based on origin and residence permit status in Germany is excluded. Likewise, Article 3 of the Convention requires that all policy measures prioritize the well-being of children.

In addition to the legal side, the associations also argue with the fact that the benefits that asylum seekers receive are lower (in 2023 between 278 euros and 374 euros per month for children and young people, scaled according to age) than the already very low standard fees in the systems other basic security (318 to 420 euros). From the point of view of the signatory organizations, this contradicts the principle of equal treatment, which should also and especially apply to a good standard of living.

In a landmark decision in 2012, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) made it clear that human dignity should not be relativized for the sake of migration policies. According to the BVerfG, the guarantee of a minimum standard of living is a human right guaranteed by Article 1 paragraph 1 of the German Basic Law. In addition, the organizations criticize that the application of the basic child insurance removes the possibility of the immediate child allowance of 20 euros, which the children of asylum seekers previously received.

Federal Minister for Family Affairs Lisa Paus (Greens) sees the planned basic child support as an opportunity to lift more children out of poverty, and hails it as the "central social policy reform" of the government coalition. Paus for ARD's morning magazine, MOMA, on Wednesday. This is "a joint success of this federal government, but of course also of the Ministry of Family Affairs". It is about "a change in the system" in order to "start to effectively fight structurally entrenched child poverty in Germany".