Potsdam’s city council voted by a large majority against the payment card for refugees. According to the text of the resolution penned by the Die Andere parliamentary group, Mayor Mike Schubert (SPD) should work with the state to ensure that the payment card is not used as a primary means of paying out money to asylum seekers.
It may be too late for that: After Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and the Prime Minister decided to introduce the controversial map in November, the government factions in the Bundestag agreed a few days ago on a draft for the nationwide legal basis.
Those who voted in favor of the motion against the payment card included the SPD, the Greens, the Left and Die Andere. The Potsdam SPD faction is positioning itself against the party’s national course. Brandenburg’s Prime Minister Dietmar Woidke (SPD) promoted the card early on.
If the card becomes mandatory, the city council’s resolution goes on to say, “the state capital should use its options to make it as discriminatory as possible.” The application lists a series of minimum standards to be taken into account. The card should be able to be used at all retailers and for all product groups as well as for online purchases and should not be limited to a specific area.
Arndt Sändig (The Other) questioned the argument that the payment card was intended to prevent money flows abroad. It is not known at all how much money asylum seekers transferred abroad from aid payments. “The payment card is populism that fishes on the right-wing edge,” said Sändig. Isabelle Vandré (Left) praised the cross-party alliance at the city level against the payment card.
The Migrant Advisory Council, which has issued a statement against the payment card and advocates minimizing the hurdles when it is introduced, welcomed the decision. When asked, the chairwoman of the committee, Fereshta Hussain, said it was important that the agreed standards were now implemented.