Aargau government opposes payment card for asylum seekers
Published: Friday, Jun 7th 2024, 11:00
Back to Live Feed
Asylum seekers in the canton of Aargau should continue to receive cash and not a payment card. The government sees many practical and legal hurdles for the card demanded by the SVP. According to the government, there is no provider of such a widely accepted card in Switzerland.
The level of social asylum assistance in Aargau is low compared to other cantons, wrote the cantonal government in the statement published on Friday in response to a motion by the SVP parliamentary group.
Most asylum seekers would have to use the cash contributions for everyday life. They would therefore not be able to send large contributions to their country of origin. Asylum seekers and temporarily admitted persons receive CHF 9.50 per day in Aargau and those obliged to leave the country receive CHF 7.50 in emergency aid.
The introduction of a card system in Aargau alone is neither practicable nor sensible. Such a solo effort would not be expedient for the municipalities bordering the neighboring cantons, as the cantonal government stated.
If cards were used, there would be a risk of the cards being resold. The Government Council referred to the experience of the canton of Zurich with the distribution of vouchers instead of cash to recipients of emergency aid. The system had been undermined. The canton of Zurich therefore abandoned the system at the end of 2011.
The Federal Council also spoke out against a payment card in May. The Federal Council stated that it was "questionable whether the introduction of payment cards instead of cash could actually combat or even prevent abuse". Germany had decided to introduce such a card.
©Keystone/SDA
English 
German 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic