Hungarian dual nationals illegally receive social benefits in Germany as Ukrainian refugees

Several persons with dual Hungarian-Ukrainian citizenship have applied for protection and social benefits as Ukrainian refugees in Germany. According to newspaper reports, some of them do not speak Ukrainian at all. Germany also offers Ukrainian refugees an exceptional procedure and a social benefit called Bürgergeld. However, EU citizens, including dual nationals, are not eligible for these benefits.

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) has investigated thousands of cases in which people with Ukrainian passports may have received social benefits in Germany without authorisation, German newspaper Der Spiegel reports.

Social benefits without authorisation in Germany

The investigation is based on reports from the provincial immigration offices. These show that people with recently issued Ukrainian passports, who only speak Hungarian and may have dual citizenship, have applied for social benefits as Ukrainian refugees, raising questions about their origin.

In response to an inquiry by rtl.hu, BAMF spokesperson Christoph Sander confirmed that a procedure has been launched to clarify the doubts about the citizenship of the Ukrainian-Hungarian applicants for temporary protection.

In the framework of this procedure, a total of 5,609 suspicious cases have been reported from the provinces until 19 February this year.

Ukrainians are receiving temporary protection and social benefits because of Russia’s war on Ukraine. They do not have to go through asylum procedures and are entitled to a citizenship grant under German social welfare law, known as Bürgergeld, which is available to people on low incomes. Last year, this amounted to EUR 502 for a single person. Hungarian dual nationals, being EU citizens, do not receive these benefits directly.