With Germany already paying nearly €50 billion for migrants in 2023, and amid a spate of terror attacks and soaring crime figures due to mass immigration, Prime Minister of Rhineland-Palatinate Alexander Schweitzer is calling the federal government to give municipalities even more money for migrants.
“Quick action and no blockades” should be in place, according to Schweitzer, who said “the financing of refugee costs must be as dynamic as the number of refugees.”
Notably, his party, along with coalition partners the Greens and Liberals (FDP) at the federal level, have overseen a huge surge in migrants in Germany and promoted relaxed naturalization laws to make them citizens at a rate far faster than previously allowed.
He made the remarks right before the Prime Minister’s Conference in Leipzig, where the main topic of conversation is expected to be Germany’s catastrophic migration crisis.
Germany is struggling to fund its healthcare, infrastructure, and education systems, as the cost of funding migrants soars.
“If social peace is not to be endangered, states and municipalities must be able to cover refugee costs without having to restrict their ability to act elsewhere,” Schweitzer told Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland (RND).
There have been sharp conflicts between the federal government and the German states over who should shoulder the burden of funding migrants. The Association of Towns and Municipalities considers the federal payments too low and wants more money.
“The flat rate set so far is far from sufficient,” said General Manager André Berghegger to RND.
Of course, Germany’s finances have already soured in the last few years. In addition to the migrant crisis, there is also the country’s aging population, weapons and aid for Ukraine, elevated inflation, and the deteriorating economic situation.
One point of contention, for example, is the cost of “citizens’ money,” which is what welfare payments are called in Germany. As Remix News reported last month, the government needs €10 billion more for these payments, over half of which go directly to foreigners, resulting in a new bill worth €46 billion.
The data show that the number of German recipients of the citizens’ allowance had almost halved from 5.2 million in 2020 to 2.9 million as of February 2023. In contrast, foreign recipients of social benefits had doubled from 1.3 million people in 2010 to 2.6 million in 2023. That number is expected to surge further in 2024.
Germany’s exploding migration figures do not even take into account the other ways migrants are costing the German people. New data shows that Germany’s foreign population in prisons is exploding, costing the state €1.8 billion a year. Meanwhile, organized crime, which is almost entirely run by foreigners, costs another €2.7 billion last year. More traffic, higher housing prices, chaotic schools, and a buckling healthcare system, along with elevated terror attacks, are all some of the ways migration is costing Germany, often beyond what the financial statistics show.
