TIROLER TAGESZEITUNG, editorial: “Our cash for our people”, by Carmen Baumgartner-Pötz

2024-02-02 21:01:05

Edition from Saturday, February 3, 2024

Innsbruck (OTS) – As much as the ÖVP would otherwise like to have cash, in connection with the issue of asylum seekers they would prefer a payment card. Because with control over benefits in kind you can score well in an election year, or at least that is the hope.

The super election year 2024 is only a month old and it has already produced a general topic that politicians will repeatedly address: migration or the fundamental question of how Austria deals with the people who come to our country.
The ÖVP, which would also like to appoint the next Federal Chancellor, has now discovered the subchapter payment card for asylum seekers in basic services. Probably also inspired by the German traffic light coalition. In doing so, she is not clumsily taking the wind out of the sails of critics from the left right from the start: What is feasible for the alliance with its neighbors cannot be so absurd for us. Spoiler: It’s not.
At the same time, the proposed payment card should be seen as a signal to those voters who are tempted to vote for the FPÖ. “Look, we’re doing something with the foreigners anyway!” it screams. Now no one can seriously object to the fact that the payment of basic benefits becomes easier to administer and simplifies administration.
But that’s not what it’s about, it’s about control down to trivial amounts. Anyone who doesn’t want to give people any cash – the amount of pocket money is absolutely manageable in all federal states – wants to make their lives as uncomfortable as possible. The proportion of benefits in kind in basic care is already high and nothing should change. In addition, there are already functioning card systems; you just had to ask in Tyrol.
Will fewer people apply for asylum in Austria if there is a nationwide payment card system? Hardly anyone can answer that seriously. However, it is known from model regions in Germany that people also left the country after the card was introduced. In any case, the ÖVP has already achieved one goal: the topic is being widely discussed and attention is the most important currency in election years.