Most recently, 74,9 percent of them received transfer payments, as reported by the German Federal Employment Agency at the request of an AfD member of parliament, René Springer.
The unemployment rate for Syrian citizens was 44,2 percent in June this year. A year earlier, it was 49,6 percent. People who attend an integration course or a vocational language course are not counted as unemployed but as “underemployed persons”. The German welfare system known as Hartz IV support those who earn so little that they can not make a living of it alone.
“Almost an entire population group has systematically migrated into our social systems,” said AfD politician Springer regarding the shocking numbers. “No wonder the federal government is calling for higher taxes now.”
As tables show, in September, 63,6 percent of all Hartz IV recipients were German citizens. Syrians were the second largest group with 10,5 percent. Thus they are clearly disproportionately represented in relation to their share of the population in the statistics.
In Germany, about 87 percent of the population has a German passport, while Syrians make up about one percent of the people living in the country. The other groups who benefit from Hartz IV as shown by statistics, are Turks (4,2 per cent), while 2,5 per cent of benefit recipients came from Iraq, and 2,2 per cent from Afghanistan.
Upon arrival in Germany, asylum seekers receive state funding in accordance with the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act. Once the procedure is completed, they end up in the system of basic security – unless they find a job.
For asylum seekers or those who are tolerated, there is a three-month period before access to the labour market. From the fourth month onwards, they can start work in many parts of Germany (with the exception of some regions) without prior examination. From the sixteenth month on, the labour market is open to them throughout Germany.
Those entitled to asylum and so-called quota refugees – persons who have been recognized as politically persecuted – have unlimited access to the labour market. The recognition rate of refugees from Syria was 81,9 percent last year.