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 Child Rights Convention prohibits discrimination against children due to origin and residence status. All children have the same rights - for example on healthy growing up, social participation and the preservation of the decent subsistence level. Therefore, the basic child protection must be a service for all children in Germany. Refugee children already have worse starting chances.
"With the coalition agreement, the Federal Government has set itself the goal of making minors of restrictions or cuts in services. Instead of redeeming this promise and thus making a signal against social exclusion of refugee children in Germany, it adds to the long list of performance restrictions. This procedure contradicts the UN Convention to ensure that refugees are in no way disadvantage, ”explains Sophia Eckert, migration and asylum expert by terre des hommes .
Background:
- The UN Convention on Children's Rights (KRK) is equally valid for all children in Germany. In 2010, Germany has given up the reservation, according to which the KRK's obligations should not apply to foreign children. According to Article 2 of the Convention, any discrimination is excluded due to the origin and residence status of the children. In the case of all political measures, the well -being of all children in accordance with Article 3 must also be taken into account.
- The bundling of social policy services planned for the basic child protection includes the child -specific regulatory rates of the citizens' allowance (SGB II) and social assistance (SGB XII), but not that of the Asylum Seekers Benefit Act (AsylbLG).
- The asylum rates of the AsylumBlG are even lower (between 278 euros and 374 euros in 2023 for children and adolescents, age -fined) than the already low control rates in the other basic security systems (318 to 420 euros). From the perspective of the signing organizations, this contradicts the principle of equal treatment, which should also apply and in particular to the decentive minimum. In a fundamental judgment in 2012, the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) made it clear that human dignity must not be relativized by migration policy considerations. According to the BVerfG, the guarantee of a decent subsistence level is a human right that is guaranteed by Art.1 Paragraph 1 of the Basic Law.
- With the introduction of basic child protection, the child's excess surcharge of 20 euros, which children have so far received in the AsylbLG, has also been eliminated. In basic child protection, this should be compensated for by adjusting the standard requirements. However, the child's excess surcharge for children in the AsylbLG in the government draft of the basic child security law is reported without replacement.
The following organizations have joined the common statement:
- Working group Migration Law in the German Lawyers' Association
- Asylum Working Group Tribsees of the Evangelical parish
- AWO Bundesverband eV
- Nationwide working group of psychosocial centers for refugees and torture victims eV (Baff eV)
- The Kinderschutzbund Bundesverband eV
- The parity overall association
- German Society for Systemic Therapy, Consulting and Family Therapy (DGSF EV)
- German Kinderhilfswerk eV
- Diakonie Germany
- Union Education and Science (GEW)
- International BUND (IB)- Free sponsors of youth, social and educational work eV
- Jumen eV
- New judge association eV (NRV)
- Pro asylum nationwide working group for refugees eV
- Save the Children Germany eV
- SOS Children's Village eV
- Social Association Germany EV (SOVD)
- Terre des Hommes Germany e.V.
- Association of single mothers and fathers eV
- Association of binational families and partnerships, IAF eV
- Volksolidarity Federal Association eV
- World Vision Germany eV
- Future Forum Family eV