Top German minister calls for benefits paid to migrant parents to be slashed
A TOP German minister has demanded benefits intended for children of EU migrants be slashed in the bizarre policy which sees cash doled out even if the kids do not live in the country.
Even those who do not work are entitled to the benefit
Federal Minister for Economic Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, has called for the government to change its policy regarding handouts for parents.
All migrants from the EU in Germany receive a stipend for their children - even if their children live abroad.
Germany’s official government website details that from January 1 2017 parents or carers will receive €192 (£160) for their first child, plus an extra €198 (£198) for their second and third child, and a staggering €223 (£186)for a fourth child and any more.
And even those who do not work are entitled to the benefit, paid out each month and up until the child’s 18th birthday, or 25th if they are in education, training or doing an internship.
Mr Gabriel, from the Social Democratic Party (SPD), called for the gravy train to stop, claiming it is susceptible to abuse.
He said that for the children of EU migrants, the allowance should be paid “at the level of the home country.”
Free movement of people was possibly being abused in order to exploit social systems
Free movement of people was possibly being abused in order to exploit countries social systems, he added.
Some cities in Germany are described as “scrap real estate”, filled solely with migrants who loved there just to receive the lucrative child benefit.
All migrants from the EU in Germany receive a stipend for their children
Mr Gabriel claims to have been waiting months for Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) to submit a proposal on reduction for child allowances.
Also the vice=chancellor, he acknowledged there was a right to move around Europe for work, but “no right to immigration into social systems without work.”
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No right to immigration into social systems without work
Last year the Federal Agency for Labour estimated 120,000 families of migrants whose children lived abroad - and who did not have German citizenship - were being paid the allowance.
Of this figure. half were Polish, followed by French, Romanians, Czechs and Hungarians.
Some cities in Germany are described as “scrap real estate”,
Earlier this year beleaguered Chancellor Angela Merkel put forward a plan to ban EU migrants from claiming benefits for five years.
Under the proposals EU migrants would be expected to work or have enough money to support themselves, and only be allowed access to the welfare system once they had ‘solidified’ their place in Germany.