Federal government presents action plan against social abuse

Labor and Social Affairs Minister Bärbel Bas actually wanted to present the action plan against social abuse together with Federal Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt. But the SPD politician had to cancel all appointments at short notice for family reasons. State Secretary Leonie Gebers, the top official in Bas's ministry, presented the plan as a representative.

Germany needs workers from other EU countries and will continue to recruit them, said Gebers. Unfortunately, the fact that this right to freedom of movement is being exploited has become a problem that occurs in municipalities across Germany.

Dobrindt speaks of criminal structures

The CSU politician Dobrindt put it this way: "Criminal structures are trying to take advantage of the welfare state. We are giving the answer to this with the action plan, with a clear stance against welfare fraudsters and organized crime."

For years, gangs have been bringing citizens from poorer EU countries such as Bulgaria and Romania to Germany. They employ these people for appearances or only for a few hours, and the EU citizens lured here apply for additional social benefits. One example is basic security, the former citizen's benefit. Many of these people live in so-called junk properties: run-down houses and apartments for which landlords charge excessive rents - paid for by the job center.

Ruhr area in particular affected

Municipalities in the Ruhr area are particularly affected - a business model for organized crime, emphasized Dobrindt. "Inspections carried out by the federal states made it possible to identify properties that were exclusively occupied by welfare fraudsters." These are people who either don't exist at all, only exist as a name or under a false name, says Dobrindt. "Or they were simply brought here to obtain benefits."

The federal government has already introduced measures so that municipalities can take better action against junk properties. As a final step, expropriations should even be possible.

Job centers become aware of uninhabitable apartments or fake addresses and can then check the rental costs and stop payments if necessary. Above all, better data exchange between the authorities should help in the fight against social fraud. “It is certainly important to exchange data between immigration authorities and job centers in order to detect abuse and double payments more quickly,” said State Secretary Gebers.

In addition, the Federal Employment Agency is taking action against grievances and fraud with its new central “Performance Abuse Competence Center” with five regional branches. The federal government also wants to hold employers who rely on undeclared work more liable.

No benefits for people who are wanted on a warrant

Also part of the action plan: People who are wanted with an arrest warrant should no longer receive any benefits in the future. This particularly affects legally convicted criminals who avoid going to prison. "So far the situation is such that social benefits simply continue to be paid. There is rightly a lot of outrage about this situation. We are putting a stop to this," said Interior Minister Dobrindt. He and the government now want to pick up the pace.

The goal is to implement the measures adopted in the action plan by the end of the year.