A left-wing advocacy group in Hamburg is openly teaching asylum seekers how to bypass the recently introduced payment card system, sparking political controversy and exposing a loophole in the system meant to control benefits distribution.
The Hamburg Refugee Council, which opposes the card, has launched a website explaining how asylum seekers can convert their card credit into cash through a voucher exchange system.
The payment card, introduced in November 2023 after an agreement between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the state prime ministers, was designed to reduce the administrative burden of handling cash benefits for asylum seekers and prevent misuse. The goal was to ensure that aid would be used for essential needs, such as food and hygiene products, rather than cash being spent elsewhere or sent home amid concerns the cash is being used to buy drugs, prostitutes, and other illicit purposes.
Hamburg was the first federal state to implement the card, issuing around 2,500 of them in the first half of 2024.
However, the Hamburg Refugee Council has actively opposed the payment card, launching the “No to payment card” initiative. The group advertises in English and Arabic on its website, offering detailed instructions on how to convert the benefits into cash.
Asylum seekers are advised to buy supermarket vouchers with their cards and exchange them for cash, or to participate in a “shopping tandem” scheme whereby they pay for a willing participant’s groceries with their card and receive cash.
The initiative claims to receive around 300 shopping vouchers monthly, converting them into €15,000 to €20,000 in cash, or roughly €50 per voucher. According to the Hamburg Refugee Council, around 400 people, referred to as “solidarity shoppers,” participate in this workaround. A similar scheme was reportedly launched earlier this year by the “Stay Open” alliance in Munich.
The group’s website calls for the legalization of all undocumented migrants and criticizes the mass classification of individuals as “illegal.”
“The introduction of the Hamburg SocialCard is a symbolic political act, which entails serious deterioration for those affected and is intended to continue to normalize hostility,” the website states.
The State Social Court of Hamburg recently upheld the legality of the payment card system, ruling that asylum seekers in reception centers do not require cash, as their basic needs are already covered. Nonetheless, the far-left campaign has vowed to continue until the policy is reversed.
The Greens threatened to pull out of the federal traffic-light coalition earlier this year over plans to expand the benefits card system across the country, warning it was discriminatory.
