86,000 Ukrainians will no longer receive citizen’s benefits. In these debates, the question that always arises is why these people are here and not fighting and why they are still going to Ukraine despite the war. Anne-Marie Braun from the association “Schöneberg Helps” explains a lot.
FOCUS online: Ms Braun, you and your association are helping Ukrainians to arrive in Germany. Those affected who fled to Germany after April 1 should no longer receive citizenship benefits retroactively, but will be treated like asylum seekers. This affects around 83,000 people. What do these changes mean for you as a charity?
Criticism of stopping citizens’ money for Ukraine
How will affected Ukrainians get health insurance now? Do you need to worry about unpaid treatment?
Chocolate: It can take months for them to get insurance because the social welfare office is responsible for health insurance. And by the way, there are already situations where refugees first go to the social welfare office before they get insurance through the employment center. One refugee had to stop his chemotherapy because he had no health insurance. A 17-year-old who fled alone from eastern Ukraine to Germany when she was two months pregnant finally gave birth to her child in Berlin, usually after nine months.
He still doesn’t have health insurance. In this case, the clinic will have to pay upfront costs. The treatment is then covered by the health insurance company. Very large number of documents. If a Ukrainian calls an ambulance and he doesn’t have health insurance yet, he will have to pay for his treatment first out of his own pocket and then get his money back. He needs the help of organizations like us.
Young men up to the age of 22 are allowed to leave Ukraine. Some people in Germany believe that people in Ukraine are given too many incentives to come to us. What do you say about that?
Chocolate: I think this accusation is unreasonable. If a major enemy like Vladimir Putin had been dropping bombs on your country for almost four years, you too would flee. No one ran away voluntarily. The majority of refugees are women and children. Friedrich Merz could have asked his daughters how they would react in case of war, or rather, he should have spoken more to those affected by the war than to his daughters.
But this is about young people being allowed to leave their country.
Chocolate: However, there are also those who have struggled and experienced trauma or serious injuries. You can’t send them back to fight.
Readers still wonder why men, even healthy ones, left Ukraine for Germany and did not go to the front.
Chocolate: Everyone had to make their own decision whether they wanted to fight on the front lines or not. Ask any Bundeswehr soldier and you will hear that this decision was not easy. Women, mothers and people with disabilities, who make up the majority of refugees, are unable to come to the front lines. Who am I as an impudent German to say: “Please come to the front”? This has nothing to do with the Christian worldview.
Germany spends money on social benefits and at the same time supplies millions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine. Many don’t understand that.
Chocolate: In my opinion, Germany earns very well from arms production and exports. And according to the Federal Institute for Population Research, 51 percent of Ukrainian adults who came to Germany between February and May 2022 now have jobs and pay taxes.
It is often said that Ukrainian citizens in Germany receive social benefits and travel to Kiev on Flixbus. Is that true or just a prejudice?
Chocolate: There are people who receive benefits here and travel to western Ukraine on Flixbus. But then they visit grandma or grandpa when they are sick or dying.
Don’t you do anything else when you visit Ukraine?
Chocolate: Maybe they’ll visit some friends. But they traveled to Ukraine with trepidation and definitely weren’t going to take photos of Mariupol or Kherson. This trip is not a vacation.
So is it safer in Western Ukraine to stay there while visits are also possible?
Chocolate: Western Ukraine is safer, but not safe. School was held in the basement due to fear of attacks, constant power outages, and extremely cold weather. Who wants to live like that with their children?
