Will payments have to be returned: Germany is preparing new rules for Ukrainian refugees
With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Germany became one of the main evacuation destinations for millions of Ukrainians. They were accepted quickly, with understanding and generous social support. The refugees gained access to the labor market, full social protection, health insurance, the ability to rent housing independently and use assistance in the same way as the German unemployed do. However, over time, more and more governments, including the German one, began to revise the terms of aid, believing that such support should be more differentiated. Today, Ukrainian refugees are faced with a question that was not heard before: will they have to return the funds received? And what does it even mean to “separate” refugees into those who arrived before a certain date and those who arrived later?
Government statement: two categories of refugees, new amounts of payments
As reported German wave, the German government is preparing a package of legislative changes, the consequence of which will be a reduction in social benefits for newly arrived refugees from Ukraine. Due to the possibility of reducing payments “retroactively”, critics warn of the threat of bureaucratic chaos. In the spring of 2025, this was announced by the parties of the newly created government coalition in Germany — the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU), as well as the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
According to the announced plans, Ukrainians who applied for temporary protection in Germany after April 1, 2025 will be paid less than those who arrived earlier. If now all refugees from Ukraine receive 563 euros per person, like unemployed Germans, after the changes new arrivals will receive 441 euros – this is the living wage in Germany for asylum seekers from all over the world.
What is needed for this and when to expect changes
In order to implement these plans, it is necessary to adopt changes to a whole series of laws – both social protection laws and laws on the status of refugees, as well as many by-laws. All these documents still need to be agreed at different levels — from federal to land and even communal.
Germany’s Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, when asked by DW, said they could not predict exactly when the changes would take effect. “The Ministry is preparing for the legislative process. The goal is to approve the changes at the meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers as soon as possible,” the department noted. At the same time, the drafts of the relevant amendments to the laws have not even been considered by the Bundestag yet, so the process itself will continue for more than one month.
However, the ministry emphasized: the government does not abandon the idea of dividing Ukrainian refugees into two groups. Those who were in Germany before April 1, 2025 will receive full social protection, while those arriving after will receive reduced benefits similar to those granted to asylum seekers from other countries.
The ministry also noted that they strive to find a legislative solution that will have a minimal administrative burden on social security agencies. However, such statements did not reassure local communities. They are worried that the bureaucratic and financial burden of the government can be shifted on their shoulders.
Social benefits for the unemployed, which were received by Ukrainian refugees, are covered from several sources, including subsidies from the federal budget. At the same time, the maintenance of refugees according to the standard procedure — that is, according to the one to which newly arrived Ukrainians are planned to be transferred — is already financed from local budgets. Therefore, the burden will fall directly on the communities.
Loss of rights to courses and medical insurance: another level of restrictions
In addition to the reduction of cash payments, the changes will also affect other aspects of support. For example, German language courses, which were previously paid for in full for Ukrainian refugees, will no longer be financed under the same conditions. This means that new arrivals will no longer have access to intensive language integration, a resource that plays a key role in employment and social adaptation.
An even more serious consequence will be the loss of health insurance. As the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Policy confirmed to DW, Ukrainians arriving after April 1, 2025 will no longer have access to health insurance on the same basis as German citizens. This means a significant narrowing of rights and opportunities — in particular, in matters of treatment of chronic diseases, access to specialist doctors or rehabilitation programs.
Administrative overload and legal conflict are fears of local communities
Local communities are afraid that the implementation of changes “retroactively” will cause a sharp increase in the bureaucratic burden. As noted in the answer to request DW at the German Union of Towns and Communities:
“Retroactive implementation requires significant procedural changes and refinements in the interaction between Job Centers (employment agencies subordinate to the Federal Agency for Labor Affairs) and social protection departments at local communities.” All these changes “will dramatically increase the administrative burden.”
In addition, communities will be tasked with accommodating refugees in shelters and social housing, while previously Ukrainians could rent housing on their own, if its cost was included in the social budget. Another item is medical care. Due to the loss of access to insurance, the treatment of new arrivals will be paid for directly from community budgets.
But local governments are probably the most wary of mass complaints and lawsuits from Ukrainians who will lose their right to payments. “Under certain circumstances, it is possible to question whether the change of status “retroactively” meets the principles of the rule of law,” the German Union of Cities and Communities notes. They also add: status changes with a fixed date — April 1, 2025 — can significantly complicate and delay all administrative procedures. And it is possible that under certain circumstances “it will be necessary to demand the return of already received payments.”
There can be many problems with housing
The greatest potential for legal disputes lies in matters related to the rental of housing. This will apply to refugees from Ukraine who arrived in Germany after April 1, 2025 and rented housing until the adoption of legislative changes. These changes are expected to limit the right of Ukrainian refugees to choose their own place of residence and reduce housing subsidies.
Lawyers explain:
“Depending on what will be written in the law, in three months, when the standard terms for terminating the lease contract expire, the question may arise that people will be evicted to the street or to a refugee shelter. But when it comes to families with children, such an eviction would contradict the principle of protecting the child’s well-being.”
In order to avoid lawsuits and disputes, legislators should provide for transitional periods when refugees are transferred to new conditions of social protection. As a rule, in the legislation on social protection, such a transition period is half a year. Even if housing subsidies are canceled, according to this principle, the social service must continue to pay for it for another six months.
What do the Bundestag and the federal states of Germany think
Factions of the ruling coalition in the Bundestag — CDU/CSU and SPD — refrained from commenting on the issue of changing the status of Ukrainian refugees. Instead, the opposition faction of the Greens openly criticizes the reduction of social guarantees for Ukrainians.
As Timon Zenius, deputy from the Green faction, noted in a conversation with DW, canceling the access of some Ukrainian refugees to free language courses and measures to improve professional qualifications will negatively affect the integration of these people into German society. The politician also criticizes the cancellation of access to insurance medicine and the additional burden on local communities.
In addition, Timon Zenius is extremely negative about the Ukrainians changing their status “retroactively”, i.e. from April 1, 2025. He emphasizes:
“It will only create chaos, red tape and confusion for people, both refugees and the services that care for them.”
In the meantime, federal state governments have joined the discussion on this issue, with which the federal government has started consultations on legislative changes. At the end of June, the Ministry of Social Policy of the State of Saxony-Anhalt publicly criticized the “retroactive” rule change for Ukrainians.
As reported by the MDR television and radio company, the Ministry stated:
“If new arrivals are to be denied access to the Bürgergeld (higher than for refugees, social benefits for the unemployed – 563 per person), then this should definitely happen only after the changes to the law come into force and in no case retroactively.”
In the relevant department of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the largest number of refugees from Ukraine live, this issue was left without comment.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Social Policy of Bavaria, which currently presides over the state conference, supports the idea of reducing payments “retroactively”. They said:
“The April 1 reference date announced in the coalition agreement of the federal government coalition is a good step, as it ensures that there will be no incentive to get to Germany as soon as possible before the legislative changes take effect.”
Currently, the key legal and political issue remains not only the amount of payments, but also the presence or absence of a transition period for newly arrived Ukrainians. Depending on how the law is written, the situation could dramatically affect thousands of people who arrived or will arrive after April 1, 2025.
So far, the government promises to coordinate all changes with the federal states, but there is no guarantee that all risks will be taken into account. The situation is complicated by the fact that many Ukrainians have already rented housing, made appointments with doctors or are counting on language courses — but a change in the rules that will affect them “retrospectively” can complicate their situation even without legal fault on their part.
This is the first attempt by the German government to divide Ukrainian refugees into two categories: those who arrived before April 1, 2025 — they will retain full social guarantees, and those who arrive after — they will receive reduced assistance. It is also the first time that an official date has been used to retrospectively change the status of a vulnerable group. The goal of this initiative is to reduce the costs of the federal budget and reduce the flow of new arrivals. However, local communities fear that the financial burden and bureaucracy will fall on them. As stated in the German Union of Cities and Communities: “Implementation of the changes retroactively would require significant procedural changes and would increase the administrative burden.”
