The international child rights organization Terre des Hommes welcomes the idea of basic child protection. However, the draft law, which is to be adopted today in the Federal Cabinet, has at least a significant defect. Because children and adolescents who receive the services of the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act are excluded from the basic protection of children. 23 civil society organizations therefore call for the government coalition to meet the requirements from the UN Convention on the Rights of Children and to include all children and adolescents living in Germany.
The Convention on the Rights of the Child prohibits discrimination against children based on their origin and residency status. All children have the same rights – such as the right to a healthy upbringing, social participation, and a dignified minimum standard of living. Therefore, a basic child allowance must be a benefit for all children in Germany. Refugee children already face fewer opportunities.
“In its coalition agreement, the German government committed itself to exempting minors from restrictions or cuts to benefits. However, instead of fulfilling this promise and sending a signal against the social exclusion of refugee children in Germany, it is adding yet another restriction to the long list of benefit cuts. This approach contradicts the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and is deeply disappointing from a child rights perspective. We call on the government and parliament to ensure that refugee children are not further disadvantaged in any way,” explains Sophia Eckert, migration and asylum expert at terre des hommes .
Background:
- The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) applies equally to all children in Germany. Germany abandoned its reservation in 2010, according to which the obligations of the CRC would not apply to foreign children. Article 2 of the Convention thus prohibits any discrimination based on a child's origin or residency status. Furthermore, Article 3 stipulates that the best interests of all children must be a primary consideration in all political measures.
- The planned bundling of social policy benefits under the child basic income scheme includes the child-specific standard rates of the citizen's allowance (SGB II) and social assistance (SGB XII), but not those of the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG).
- The standard rates under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG) are even lower (between €278 and €374 in 2023 for children and young people, depending on age) than the already inadequate standard rates in other basic income support systems (€318 to €420). From the perspective of the undersigned organizations, this contradicts the principle of equal treatment, which should also apply, and especially so, to a dignified minimum standard of living. In a landmark ruling in 2012, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) clarified that human dignity must not be relativized by considerations of migration policy. According to the BVerfG, the guarantee of a dignified minimum standard of living is a human right enshrined in Article 1, Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law.
- With the introduction of the basic child allowance, the immediate child supplement of €20, which was previously also received by children receiving benefits under the Asylum Seekers' Benefits Act (AsylbLG), will be eliminated. This is to be compensated for under the basic child allowance through adjustments to the standard benefit rates. However, according to reports, the government's draft of the basic child allowance law eliminates the immediate child supplement for children receiving benefits under the AsylbLG without replacement.
The following organizations have joined the joint statement:
- Working Group on Migration Law in the German Bar Association
- WORKING GROUP ASYLUM TRIBSEES of the Protestant parish
- AWO Federal Association eV.
- Federal Association of Psychosocial Centers for Refugees and Victims of Torture (BAfF eV)
- The German Child Protection Association (Bundesverband eV).
- The Paritätische Gesamtverband
- German Society for Systemic Therapy, Counseling and Family Therapy (DGSF eV)
- German Children's Aid Organization eV.
- Diakonie Germany
- Education and Science Workers' Union (GEW)
- International Federation (IB) - independent provider of youth, social and educational work eV.
- JUMEN eV
- New Judges Association (NRV)
- PRO ASYL Federal Association for Refugees.
- Save the Children Germany eV.
- SOS Children's Villages eV.
- Social Association of Germany (SoVD)
- Terre des Hommes Germany e.V..
- Association of Single Mothers and Fathers.
- Association of Binational Families and Partnerships, iaf eV.
- People's Solidarity Federal Association eV.
- World Vision Germany eV.
- Future Forum Family eV.