Thomas Puhe,
German lawyer.
Consequences of re-emigration
I must say that this topic is of certain relevance and is not limited to one Rolf. In recent years, there has been a not very significant trend of re-emigration of Russian Germans to their countries of origin. Usually I encounter the following situations: an elderly Russian German woman or a Russian widow of a late resettler lives alone in Germany. Her adult children and grandchildren live in the CIS countries. They could not or did not want to move to Germany, which led to the forced separation of the family. An elderly woman living alone in a foreign environment needs moral and other support from her loved ones. Therefore, she lives for a long time, sometimes permanently, in the family of her son or daughter in the CIS. Another common case: a middle-aged man could not find a decent job in Germany and is eking out a living on social benefits. Thanks to his connections, experience and qualifications in his country of origin, he still has the opportunity to apply his strengths and abilities in a worthy manner.
I do not know the exact figures, but I believe that we are talking about several hundred cases (possibly more) of re-emigration per year. This process is greatly simplified when returnees retain the citizenship of their country of origin and thus are persons with dual citizenship. It is clear that we are all subject to the vicissitudes of fate, and a German citizen permanently or long-term residing in Ukraine or Russia may find himself in a difficult life situation and need urgent help. The question arises: can he in this case turn to the German authorities for help, namely, to the German embassy in the country of his long-term residence?
Social achievements
A brief answer to this question is contained in §119 Paragraph 1 of the Federal Social Assistance Act (Bundes-sozialhilfegesetz): "Germans permanently residing abroad and in need of assistance may be granted social assistance in particularly urgent cases." With reference to the expensive beach apartment in sunny Florida, the tabloid press massively attacked this legislative passage, and in vain. It obliges the state to perform its genuine functions of social, physical and legal protection of the country's citizens anywhere in the world. This, in fact, is what such a system of coercion and violence as the state, taxes, army, etc. exists for. Germany can be proud of such social security for the individual. This asset must be handled with care, not allowing what has been achieved to be taken away.
In principle, a German citizen who finds himself in a difficult life situation abroad must return to his homeland and there, on the spot, demand the public support to which he is entitled by law. In life, it may happen that returning home is not possible or may worsen the condition of the person in need. Sometimes this is simply impractical for material reasons, since assistance on the spot in a country with a low standard of living will be considerably cheaper than in expensive Germany.
Currently, German embassies provide social assistance to about 960 recipients with permanent residence abroad. In most cases, these are German citizens who have lived abroad for decades and, for various reasons, ended up without means of subsistence at the end of their lives. On a human scale, it makes no sense to tear an elderly person out of their familiar environment in Venezuela, Argentina or Kenya and move them to Ostentrop or Wunsiedel, where a place in a nursing home costs the taxpayer several thousand euros a month. It is also doubtful that such a returnee would survive this forced transplanting into soil he has become unaccustomed to over decades of living abroad.
Assistance at local rates
Of course, assistance is provided at the subsistence level of the country where the person in need lives. In Kazakhstan, this level may be one third of the German social assistance rate; in Florida, one would have to pay a double rate. Rates of foreign social assistance are determined on the basis of information and statistical data from German embassies. German embassies are also obliged, upon applications from needy persons, to verify the actual state of affairs and make an appropriate decision. According to the German Foreign Ministry, for natural reasons the number of foreign recipients of social assistance is slowly but steadily declining.
In the face of a good several tens of thousands of German citizens living in the CIS countries, I regard these figures as an indicator of the lack of information of the persons concerned about their rights to social benefits in a case of absolute necessity. As usual, in justified situations one should submit an application for assistance to the embassy, provide it with reliable and trustworthy certificates and, if necessary, demand a personal examination of the case by embassy staff. Such an emergency situation may be recognized for non-transportable patients and extremely elderly persons attached to their familiar environment and care from family members. On the contrary, ordinary need or lack of access to non-urgent treatment is not an emergency case. Here the applicant may be offered to return to Germany.
This article serves the purposes of general information and cannot replace individual consultation
Rechtsanwalt Thomas Puhe
Jahnstr, 17, 60318, Frankfurt-am-Main
Tel.: 069-59-79-66-82, fax: 069-59-79-66-86
E-mail: [email protected]