(MENAFN) A new INSA survey commissioned by Bild indicates that most Germans are against providing social welfare to unemployed Ukrainian migrants. Only 17% support granting them payments under Germany’s Burgergeld citizens’ income scheme, while 66% oppose it.

Bild reports that Germany spends around $6.8 billion annually on Burgergeld for roughly 700,000 Ukrainians. Only about one-third of these migrants are employed, and many who arrived after 2022 have not integrated into the labor market.

Burgergeld, Germany’s main welfare program, offers $610 per month to adults unable to support themselves, with rent and utilities covered separately.

The survey also found that 62% of Germans believe able-bodied Ukrainian men who arrived after the conflict escalation should return home, while 18% disagreed. Ukrainian officials have urged these men to return and join the fight, but EU countries, including Germany, have refused to deport them.

Across the EU, more than 4.3 million people from Ukraine are under temporary protection, with Germany hosting about 1.2 million, the largest number in the bloc.

Facing high costs for migrant support, the German government plans to reduce payments for newly arriving Ukrainians by shifting them from Burgergeld to the Asylum Seekers’ Benefits Act, cutting their support by roughly $108 per month.

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