Make Work Pay!

I read with great interest last Tuesday’s lead- ing article written by my boss, Manfred Perterer, about a refugee who had given up his job to claim benefits, when he realised that he could earn much more. A Syrian refugee has turned his back on his employer, Mr. Sepp Schellhorn, after he found out from a certain charity that he would receive over €10,000 more per year, for himself, his wife and their soon-to-be four children, if he stopped working. He went on the dole and claimed benefits from the state. Now, it is not quite clear if the charity that gave the refugee this information did it deliberately, knowing that he already had a job, or was only offering advice. If they advised him to give up his job in Gastein, then they should be named and shamed.

While so many Austrians are now losing sympathy for refugees, due to rumours of theft, sexual abuse and violence, I find it very refreshing that Mr. Schellhorn, the hotel owner and Member of Parliament for the Neos, has tried to integrate many refugees, in Gastein, by giving them free accommodation and jobs whenever possible. He had employed the refugee, who has already been granted asylum, as a caretaker – for €1,900 per month, but now the man and his family have moved to Vienna, where he no longer has to work and gets much more. This will send out a very bad signal to other refugees and infuriate many Austrians.

We should ask ourselves; how on earth can this be possible? In fact, this has been going on in England for years and has virtually taken the "Great" out of Great Britain. There are thousands of people on the dole and claiming benefits. Many think that it is their given right: Why work, when a government is stupid enough to pay you for sitting at home, drinking a beer on the couch? I know a few people in England who decided to do this at a very early age and are still unemployed in their 50s. However tempting this may seem, I would strongly advise anyone against it, if you can work instead.

There is nothing more rewarding than having a regular job and, if it is one you enjoy, all the better: getting up in the morning; getting ready for work; a chance to meet others and do something useful, for which you are paid, brings a sense of satisfaction into anyone’s life. The advantages of working for a living, whenever possible, far outweigh the disadvantages of staying at home and watching ridiculous programmes on TV or playing computer games.

I think that all refugees, many of whom are strong young men, should be given the opportunity to work even while they are still seeking asylum. If they are fortunate enough to be offered a job, they should not be offered dole money. I often see groups of migrants walking around in Salzburg, with nothing to do: The devil finds work for idle hands – if someone doesn’t feel useful, they could turn to crime.

In Britain, thousands of migrants are claiming benefits, unnecessarily. Jihadi John, the evil member of Islamic State, who beheaded hostages on video, moved to Britain, from Kuwait, and was granted asylum in 1996.His large family has been on benefits for 20 years, has never worked, and live in a £600,000 flat in London paid for by the council. They pocket £40,000 a year in handouts and produced one of the most evil terrorists of all time. Unfortunately, there are many more willing to follow suit.

It is hardly surprising that one of David Cameron’s conditions to stay in the EU is to not let migrants, working in England, send huge amounts of benefits to their families abroad and to try and get as many migrants working as possible, before it is too late. Make Work Pay! – Arbeit muss sich lohnen! to claim benefits – Sozialleistungen beanspruchen beneficial – vorteilhaft leading article – Leitartikel to earn – verdienen employer – Arbeitgeber a certain charity – eine gewisse Hiflsorganisation soon-to-be – zukünftig to be on the dole – Arbeitslosengeld beziehen deliberately – absichtlich to name and shame – öffentlich bloßstellen due to rumours – wegen Gerüchten theft – Diebstahl violence – Gewalttätigkeit accommodation – Unterkunft to grant asylum – Asyl gewähren to infuriate – erzürnen given right – angeborenes Recht unemployed – arbeitslos tempting – verlockend to advise against – abraten rewarding – lohnend to get up – aufstehen to far outweigh – bei weitem überwiegen disadvantages – Nachteile to be fortunate – Glück haben useful – nützlich evil – bösartig to behead hostages – Geiseln enthaupten the council – die Gemeinde to pocket – in die Tasche stecken handouts – Sozialleistungen to follow suit – dem Beispiel folgen abroad – im Ausland