Latvian Prime Minister: refugee benefit should not exceed €200 per month

Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma believes that the social benefit paid to refugees should not exceed 200 euros a month - a  contrast to the currently paid 256 euros to residents of Latvia. 

Straujuma said in an interview with the Latvian public television on October 20, 2015 that the benefit should be slightly above the subsistence minimum income, and other expenses should be added for accommodation to refugees.

In line with the decision made by top European Union Interior Ministers, Latvia has to take in an additional 281 asylum seekers on top of the 250 asylum seekers agreed on earlier in 2015 - the total number of asylum seekers to be accepted by Latvia so far is 531 .

The Latvian government and the Latvian parliamentary committee on European affairs have supported the plan by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, for dealing with the migration crisis in Europe under which Latvia would admit up to 776 asylum seekers by 2017.

The Latvian government has adopted a tentative action plan for its admission of refugees in Latvia, which is expected to require an estimated 16 million euros - a figure that a number of officials have called exaggerated. 

It has been agreed that the Interior Ministry might present an updated plan and cost estimates on October 20 and the working group is expected to produce its final report on the arrangement for admission of asylum seekers on November 30, 2015. 

Under Latvian law, persons without any other means of subsistence are entitled to a monthly benefit of 256 euros for the first 12 months after being given a refugee status. Refugees will also be provided with allowance to learn the Latvian language. 

But it has been suggested that it would be unfair to local population and therefore the refugee benefit could be lowered and brought to the same level as the guaranteed minimum income benefit or the state social security benefit.