Germany: stricter asylum laws

On 15 October 2015, the Bundestag adopted a legislation package adopting stricter asylum laws and lifting the burden off the federal states during the migration crisis. Some of these laws will come into force as early as 1 November. To reduce the number of migrants who abuse the asylum system and to expedite the procedures, Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro were put on the list of safe countries of origin (around 99% of applications from citizens of these countries have been rejected). In an attempt to weaken the motivation of people who file asylum applications for financial reasons, the federal government intends to reduce the benefits paid in cash to a minimum. These will be replaced with coupons or goods. From now on, cash benefits will be paid only one month in advance. Individuals from safe countries of origin who submitted asylum applications after 1 September 2015 will not be allowed to work (at present, everyone who seeks international protection in Germany has the right to work after three months of stay). To lift the burden off the federal states, the federal government, starting from 2016, will pay the federal states and communes 670 euros to finance the costs of living of each migrant until the asylum application is considered. Additionally, the government will support social housing in 2016–2019, earmarking 500 million euros annually for this purpose.