Part two of this series looks at how, according to the new law, social benefits for asylum seekers are going to be cut. This decision was subject to harsh criticism by civil society organizations.

The new legal situation

• "In-kind benefits instead of cash": Asylum seekers staying in first reception centers won't be given cash anymore. Before, there was an allowance of 143 euros that asylum seekers could use for public transportation, phone cards or other personal necessities (socio-cultural subsistence minimum). Those things are now supposed to be provided in kind. Accommodation, clothes, food and sanitary products are still provided for in the first reception centers (physical side of the subsistence minimum).
• "Neither in-kind benefits nor cash": Those who are obliged to leave the country and who, for reasons they are responsible for themselves, cannot be deported, or those who have not left the country yet, will only get benefits according to the "physical subsistence minimum." They shall not get any further benefits.

According to the federal government, the cuts are to eliminate "wrong incentives." Rejected asylum seekers are to leave the country sooner.

From a Human Rights Perspective

According to experts, the assumption that "wrong incentives" are mobilizing people is untenable. Migration is expensive, hard and very often risky. The idea that a few euros of pocket money could convince people to make such a decision ignores the reality. The new law brings up problems regarding fundamental and human rights.

• Every person living in Germany, regardless of nationality, has a fundamental right to the guarantee of a dignified minimum existence. This right is based on Article 1.1 of the German Constitution (human dignity) in conjunction with Article 20.1 (principle of the social welfare state). It protects the physical existence - this means food, clothes, household goods, accommodation, heating, sanitation and health - but also the right to maintain interpersonal relationships and to participate in social, cultural and political life. In a judgment from 2012, the Federal Constitutional Court has explicitly confirmed that this fundamental right applies to asylum seekers as well. Migration policy considerations, like keeping social benefits low in order to avoid incentives for migration, could not justify any reduction of benefits below the physical and sociocultural minimum existence. Because human dignity may not be modified in light of migration-policy considerations. How are the new regulations supposed to be in line with this?
• Corresponding rights derive from the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR): For instance, every human being has a right to social security (Article 9) and a right to participation in cultural life (Article 15.1.a).

Human rights are individual entitlements

Germany has obliged itself to respect and to protect fundamental and human rights. If these rights are violated in Germany, the affected persons have a legal claim. Of course, in Germany the Constitution and fundamental rights are very important in this matter.

Beyond the aforementioned level, there are other human rights obligations that have to be considered in the interpretation of German laws and even the Constitution. These are, for example, the European Convention on Human Rights and other conventions on the level of the United Nations (UN Convention on the rights of the child, ICESCR and so forth).

In all aspects of the asylum law, this is going to be important. According to new reports, the German Ministry of the Interior is already planning an amendment to the law in order to weaken the right to asylum even further. The most important question is going to be whether and how Germany will stand up to its obligations regarding human and fundamental rights.