Ukrainian refugees who fled the war in their homeland for various cities in Central Europe are notorious for driving luxury cars. The culture-enriching rides are easily identifiable, because they still bear Ukrainian number plates.
The canton of Aargau in Switzerland has now broken ranks with the Gutmenschen: it has changed its welfare rules for refugees so that recipients must give up their vehicles if they want to receive social benefits.
Many thanks to Hellequin GB for translating this article from Report24:
Switzerland: Luxury sled or social assistance — Ukrainian refugees now have to decide
The noticeably high number of luxury cars with Ukrainian license plates in German, Austrian and Swiss cities since the beginning of the Ukraine war did not go unnoticed by the citizens and often raised considerable doubts about the neediness of the so-called refugees. A s***storm broke out among left-wing Greens about Friedrich Merz [CDU] in Germany after his “social tourism” comment — but the canton of Aargau in Switzerland is now actually tightening the rules for social assistance for Ukraine refugees. If you have a car, you must sell it if you want government money.
So far — since October 2022 — in Aargau, “actually available funds and valuables” have been included in the assets of Ukrainian refugees, but cars have been exempt from this because the government decided that they were necessary for a return to Ukraine. From March 10, however, the corresponding ordinance will be adjusted: Vehicles belonging to so-called vulnerable people twelve months after entering Switzerland must be counted in the needs test — with the consequence that the people have to sell their car in order to receive social assistance. Before they get money from the state, they first have to make a living from the proceeds from the sale. In the case of many a luxury car, the money could last for quite a while.
Incidentally, from the outbreak of the Ukraine war until October 2022, no cash or valuables were taken into account in the needs check in Aargau, either: a free ticket to the Swiss social benefits system. Politicians seemed to care little that this would significantly damage the culture of welcome on the part of those who finance this system with their tax money.
It should be the poor people from the Ukraine seeking protection! You see this kind of luxury cars and SUVs with us more and more often! pic.twitter.com/RGB8uq4Zov
— Werner H. (@WernerFKHerzog) January 10, 2023
In the end, the question still remains concerning the extent to which incorrect information or tricks can be checked and recognized as part of the needs assessment. Nevertheless, the canton of Aargau is setting an example with the adjustment.
Afterword from the translator:
Almost a million asylum applications were received by EU countries in 2022. Those applications were in addition to four million Ukrainian refugees who fled to the EU last year.
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