MIGRATION

220,000 migrants without papers applied for regularisation in Italy – Minister

About 220,000 applications for regularisation in Italy have been submitted by resident foreigners without papers since 1 June, when the scheme was launched as part of COVID-19 economic rejuvenation measures, according to Deputy Interior Minister Matteo Mauri. The minister made the revelation on 13 October after a meeting at the prefecture of Foggia in the region of Puglia, where he …

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Outrage over Nigerian migrant burned alive in Libya

Condemnations have trailed the news of a young Nigerian man who was burned alive in Libya earlier last week. According to UN and Libyan government officials, the men accused of setting him on fire have been arrested. An investigation into the incident is under way. “We are horrified by the killing of a Nigerian migrant worker in Tripoli, Libya by …

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Nigerian refugee graduates in Computer Science at top Italian university

It's an inspiring story which teaches that temporary hardship should not derail a person's ambition. Despite leaving his home country as an irregular migrant, despite undergoing the hardship of travelling across the desert, despite his being detained in terrible conditions in Libya and despite travelling dangerously on a rickety boat across the Mediterranean to reach Italy, the young Nigerian refugee did not waver in his ambition to receive a quality education

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EU Migration Pact: Here’s what you should know about the plan

The Council of the European Union presented a “New Pact on Migration and Asylum” to the public on 23 September . The pact focuses largely on migration-control at the external borders of the European Union. The proposed measures include border screenings, accelerated asylum procedures and new regulations for the distribution of asylum seekers. Here is a breakdown of the suggested …

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France to UK: Why migrants are risking the Channel crossing

More and more people are taking to small dinghies to cross the English Channel to the UK, in spite of the efforts on both sides to stop them. Many are desperate to escape unemployment and homelessness they experienced elsewhere in Europe. Marion MacGregor reports This year, French maritime authorities say, at least 6,200 migrants have attempted to cross the English …

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Explainer│What happens if you come to Europe with a tourist visa and claim asylum?

The Dublin Regulation is the European law that determines where an asylum seeker’s claim is processed. But does it cover everyone, even those with a tourist visa? We asked Petra Baeyens from the European Legal Network on Asylum for answers. Marion MacGregor reports Under the Dublin system, the first country of entry into the EU is generally responsible for examining …

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Greece begins voluntary repatriation of refugees to their home countries

A first contingent of 134 Iraqis took off from Athens on Thursday, August 6, in Greece’s first voluntary returns flight. The scheme, funded by the European Union is aimed at relieving pressure on Greece, which is struggling to cope with the amount of migrants and asylum seekers who have reached its shores. This is the “biggest voluntary return our country …

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Italy: Judge rules against city that denied benefits to Nigerian migrant

A judge has ruled against the municipality of Castel Volturno in Italy’s southern Campania region after it refused to pay a maternity grant and family benefits to a Nigerian migrant. The judge said that similar EU legislation demanded the woman be treated equally. The municipality of Castel Volturno near the southern city of Caserta had argued that the Nigerian mother-of-five …

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Free digital training course for migrant women in Berlin

The FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin e.V.  is offering a free digital empowerment training program to improve the media competence of women migrants and refugees in the city. The course, which begins on 12 August, aims at improving the computer and language skills of the participants, who will learn how the Internet, computer and smartphone work and how they can use these technologies independently …

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Nigerians, Somali, Eritreans lead African asylum-seekers in Germany – Federal Office of Statistics

Roughly 1.83 million people seeking protection were registered in Germany last year, the Federal Office of Statistics said Thursday.  Compared with 2018 the total number rose by 3%, or 55,000 people, reflecting the smallest yearly increase since 2012, according to the statistics office. The figures refer to people seeking protection on international, humanitarian or political grounds. They include asylum-seekers with …

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EU’s top court rules on family reunification of African migrants and refugees with their children

Migrants and refugees in the EU can apply to reunite with their children and bring them to Europe if the children are minors. But what if they reach maturity during the application process? They can still be reunited with their parents, because what matters is the age they were when the application was filed, the European Court of Justice has …

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Mental Health in Black Communities: Time to Act

The issue of mental health is one of those taboos among Black people. Even the World Bank identified that ‘Mental disorders, such as depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders, affect millions of people worldwide. They impose an enormous global disease burden that leads to premature mortality and affects functioning and quality of life’. It is high time, we in the …

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First deportation flight from Germany since coronavirus pandemic outbreak

For the first time since the beginning of the corona pandemic, a group deportation flight took off from Frankfurt Airport on Tuesday (14 July). On board the plane to Islamabad in Pakistan were 19 Pakistani nationals who had been deported mainly from Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. This was confirmed by the federal police at Frankfurt Airport to the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. …

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North African countries agree to stop migrants from crossing Mediterranean

The police of North African countries to prevent refugees from crossing the Mediterranean to Europe. EU Interior Ministers and their North African counterparts have agreed. Amnesty sharply criticises agreement. Europe is also relying on African police to stop refugees crossing the Mediterranean. Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior announced in Berlin, the interior ministers of EU countries and North African …

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Pope Francis compares Libyan migrant detention centres to concentration camps

Pope Francis has likened the living conditions in migrant detention centres in Libya to concentration camps. He made the comments on  Wednesday during a mass commemorating the pontiff’s journey to the Italian island of Lampedusa seven years ago, his first pastoral visit outside Rome after his election. Sertan Sanderson reports Pope Francis used the German term “Lager” during his sermon, …

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