Most of them arrive officially to work, but live on social benefits: German cities and municipalities protest against schemes to drain the social system of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants.
Walls covered in mold, broken staircases, neglected streets - criminal gangs often rent out exactly such housing to people who have arrived from Bulgaria and Romania. This is how the German social system is being drained, as high rents are charged, a significant part of which is covered by social benefits, writes ARD in a report on the subject from the city of Hagen in the Ruhr area.
The German public media reported that 7,000 Bulgarians and Romanians live in the city of 200,000 inhabitants, and over half of them receive social benefits, for example for rent, and cost Hagen between 10 and 15 million euros per year. Mayor Dennis Rebein made the following comment: “This is why people feel a sense of injustice and ask themselves - where do they get support from, while there is no money for many other important things."
Municipalities want uniform rules
ARD points out that in order to receive social benefits, EU citizens only need to work a minimum of a few hours. In principle, the authorities can revoke EU citizens' work and residence permits, or social benefits, but in Hagen this happened only three times last year.
Gelsenkirchen, on the other hand, last year denied social benefits to 500 people from Romania and Bulgaria, i.e. one in ten. The immigration office there requires EU workers to provide at least a third of their own support and carries out the relevant checks.
Municipalities like Hagen want to follow Gelsenkirchen's example but insist on uniform rules from the state - in the name of fighting against the siphoning off of social benefits.
The example of Gelsenkirchen
As reported by ARD, 26,000 Romanians and Bulgarians live in Duisburg, for example, 11,000 of whom, i.e. almost half, receive benefits from the employment office. The situation is similar in Hagen, where many locals comment on things like this: "With a "mini-job" (employment with minimum working hours and minimum pay) and more than two children, you don't need to work in Germany anymore - the employment offices pay for everything."
North Rhine-Westphalia: basement converted into living space in an abandoned buildingPhoto: Christoph Reichwein/dpa/picture alliance
Gelsenkirchen, with its restrictions on Eastern Europeans, is already being held up as an example. Those affected are even obliged to leave - if their goal is proven not to work, but to drain social benefits, having only a “mini-job”.
As the ARD writes, Gelsenkirchen was a particularly preferred target for Eastern Europeans - and for people with low education, even without secondary education, and with limited chances on the labor market. One of the reasons - the low rents of neglected housing, which, however, are artificially inflated in front of the authorities, so that they take part of the amount.
A working group was created in Gelsenkirchen 11 years ago, uniting specialists from various departments - the Labor Office, the police, customs, housing supervision and the Foreigners' Office. Its purpose is to control who is registered and who is actually working.
Migrants often do not work at all
As it turns out, many of the foreigners who have arrived in the city claim to have a job, but in reality do not work at all or hardly at all. That is why the requirement (which currently only applies in Gelsenkirchen) comes into force that the person concerned must personally earn a third of his or her living expenses in order to be able to claim additional social benefits.
The city's mayor, Andrea Henze, emphasizes that anyone who wants to integrate is welcome. "But we will fight against anyone who wants to abuse our benefits. Often there are entire structures behind this," the ARD report also says.