Berlin Abgeordnetenhaus, Plenarprotokoll
18/82, p. 9714.
Right honorable Frau President. Ladies and gentlemen.
The basic right to asylum, which grants to the persecuted
protection of life and limb, forms an important cornerstone of modern and free
states. Following two world wars, in 1951 with logical consequence was signed
the agreement on the legal status of refugees, better known as the Geneva
Convention on Refugees. We thereby have a valid legal basis for the protection
of the persecuted, expanded by the 1967 protocol.
As a result of the change effected by great and global
migration movements, the relevance of the Geneva Convention will be ever more
frequently placed in question; not without right, it needs be said. A parade
example of the political abuse of the Convention is found in Berlin and – whom does
it surprise? – by the leftists of our political spectrum. By means of a completely
misguided asylum practice, people will be enticed to leave their peaceful
homeland because a prospect of cash will be held out to them. Yet for that the
Geneva Convention on Refugees was not undersigned by 149 states.
The asylum application law, in the controlling §§ 3 and 6, opens
sufficient leeway to the administration so as to strike a balance between money
and payment in kind. Certainly in the initial stages of asylum procedures,
payment in kind is foreseen as a rule. In Berlin, each asylum applicant
nevertheless immediately receives a fat bundle of euro bills. Although long
known, and despite election campaign and flooding, this theme again makes the
headlines as co-workers in the State Office for Refugees [LAF] sound the alarm in regards Social Senator Elke Breitenbach. They
report that many petitioners, particularly from Moldavia and Georgia – I cite
with permission of the President – have obviously been attracted by money for
asylum applicants. End citation. Jana Borkamp, leader of the LAF shelter department, expressed
herself on the rush at the arrival center for refugees at Wittenau in the Tagesspiegel as follows, and I cite with
permission of the President: “It’s as if someone had flipped a switch”, end
citation. Meanwhile, not a single one of the the 1,561 registered petitioners
from Moldavia who have come to Germany in the first half of 2021 has received a
positive decision.
Christian Buchholz (AfD): Hear,
hear!
Karsten Woldeit (AfD): But money!
This is oftentimes not at all wanted. On that, LAF President Alexander Straßmeier – and
I cite with permission of the President: Some are already coming back a fourth
time for the purpose of an asylum petition, although they have been previously
rejected three times. – End citation.
For asylum applicants, Berlin pays out cash for three months
in advance. A large family from Moldavia, set down by buses or small transport
directly in front of the LAF, can
figure on up to 4,200 euros. The joy over the evident bonanza is so great that
those favored immediately inform acquaintances and relatives and then start on
their journey home – thus, the Berliner
Morgenpost. In yesterday’s Abendschau
of the RBB [Berlin-Brandenburg
broadcasting] was to be learned that Senator Breitenbach in the future will pay
out cash for one month only.
That it may go quite otherwise is indicated by Bavaria which
is bound by these same Federal regulations and in any case is responsible for
Moldavian asylum applicants. There, the new arrivals come to an anchor center
to receive only payments in kind and food, as well as a little pocket money.
There, no switch is flipped. In contrast to that, the Berlin Senate promotes a
regular asylum tourism, and with it an organized smuggling criminality [Schleuserkriminalität]. Senator
Breitenbach in the Berliner Zeitung
of August 11th – and I cite with permission of the President: “There
is no evidence of criminal structures”, end citation. Which is definitely
contradicted by the LKA [State
Criminal Office] and the Berlin police. There are clear indications of Schleuserkriminalität – thus, police
spokesman Thilo Coblitz in the RBB.
The State of Berlin is not allowed to become the stirrup
holder for organized crime.
The AfD cannot tolerate that the red-red-green Berlin Senate
thwarts legislative intentions and surrenders the Geneva Convention on Refugees
to ridicule.
We therefore demand of the State government: First, to move
for a Bundesrat initiative for the classification of the Republic of Moldavia
and of Georgia as secure states of origin in the sense of Art. 16a GG [Grundgesetz,
Basic Law]; second, to replace unrestricted money payments by means of payments
in kind and, third, to immediately deport all rejected asylum applicants. The
basic right to asylum is not allowed to erode at the cost of those seeking
protection. Let us prosecute the criminals and let us protect the persecuted! We
request a vote in favor for this motion [Drucksache
18/3977].
I am grateful for your attention.
[trans: tem]
