German asylum benefits cuts violate EU law, top court rules

What does a human being need to survive with dignity while they await asylum and to be transferred from one European country to another?

That was the question before the judges of European Court of justice (ECJ) as they delivered a ruling on whether benefits provided by Germany fell short of the EU's expectations.

The ECJ was asked to interpret the rights of an Afghan asylum-seeker, identified as FB, whose asylum application had been rejected by Germany and who was due to be deported to Romania, where he first claimed asylum in 2021.

While FB waited to be transferred he was provided food, heated accommodation, and hygiene and healthcare, but received no assistance for clothing and other household items. A law in Germany slashed benefits for rejected asylum-seekers in what activists described as "bed, bread, and soap" subsistence.

FB sued the Bavarian district of Schweinfurt after his benefits were cut in 2022, but the case finally ended up at the ECJ.

On Thursday, the court ruled in favor of the rejected asylum-seeker and said that basic necessities such as clothing and household goods may not be withdrawn even if an asylum application is rejected.

Clothing is among the "most basic needs" the court said, and cash benefits for daily necessities such as travel tickets and communication devices ensure a "minimum level of participation in the social and cultural life" of the member state in which a person resides. This allowance contributes "to ensuring the subsistence of the applicant and to protecting the applicant's physical and mental health."

Activists welcomed the ruling and expect it to have an EU-wide impact. But a new migration pact makes things unclear.