"Massive additional costs"

First expert settles accounts with new asylum plans

Asylum expert Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz criticizes the initiatives of Karner, Doskozil and Stelzer (from left).(Bild: Asylkoordination, Land oÖ/Mayrhofer, Georg Hochmuth. Martina Siöbbauer, Krone KREATIV,)

Restricted cash payments offer fewer incentives for illegal migration. As simple as the motives behind the hotly debated payment card system for asylum seekers in basic care may seem, it is likely to be complicated to implement. Asylum expert Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz criticizes the plans, speaks of "fantasy figures" and expects "massive additional costs".

Three federal states, one topic. While the governor of Burgenland, Hans Peter Doskozil, is campaigning for an upper limit of 10,000 asylum applications per year, the head of Upper Austria, Thomas Stelzer, wants to introduce a payment card based on the German model. And in Lower Austria, the nationwide debate is drawing attention to the fact that it has even been included in the black-blue government program to switch from cash benefits to benefits in kind for basic care. Lukas Gahleitner-Gertz is the spokesperson for Asylum Coordination Austria - and thinks little of all these proposals.