The responsible reception facility , Date: 2018.11.28, format: Article, area: Asylum and refugee protection

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The competent reception facility is responsible for providing food and board for asylum-seekers. At the same time, it informs the closest branch office of the Federal Office or the nearest arrival centre.

The legal basis

The requirement of asylum-seekers at subsistence level is laid down in law in the Asylum-Seekers’ Benefits Act.

Asylum-Seekers’ Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz – AsylbLG) [available in German only]

Asylum-seekers and asylum applicants receive benefits in kind at subsistence level during their stay and a monthly amount of money to cover their everyday personal needs. The nature and amount of the benefits are regulated by the Asylum-Seekers’ Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz). These include basic benefits for food, housing, heating, clothing, healthcare and personal hygiene, as well as household durables and consumables, benefits to cover personal daily requirements, benefits in case of sickness, pregnancy and birth, as well as individual benefits which depend on the individual case.

Benefits for asylum applicants are also provided in the follow-up accommodation (such as collective accommodation or even a private apartment). More information is available from the responsible municipal administration.

Background information

Benefits in accordance with the Asylum-Seekers’ Benefits Act

The Asylum-Seekers’ Benefits Act safeguards the basic needs and regulates the supply of goods. It applies to beneficiaries in accordance with the Asylum-Seekers’ Benefits Act, including to asylum applicants and those obliged to leave the country (such as applicants whose applications have been turned down or holders of temporary suspension of deportation status [Duldung]).

There is provision for the following benefits:

  • basic benefits for food, housing, heating, clothing, healthcare and personal hygiene, as well as and household durables and consumables;
  • benefits to cover personal daily requirements (cash and "pocket money");
  • benefits in case of sickness, pregnancy and birth;
  • as well as further benefits which depend on the individual case under special circumstances.

If accommodation is provided in reception facilities, the basic benefits are provided as benefits in kind.
It is possible to deviate from this where necessary if asylum-seekers are no longer accommodated in reception facilities but in follow-up facilities (for instance collective accommodation or local accommodation, such as apartments or accommodation groups). The details of the procedure are regulated by the Federal Länder.