Migration & Integration

Germany: Webinar on how to transition from Duldung to secure legal status holds

ANNOUNCEMENT An informative online session discussing the transition from tolerated stay (Duldung) to a secure legal right of residence in Germany will be held on Wednesday, 2 October 2024. Topics to be covered at the virtual event, titled “From Tolerated Stay to Right of Residence in Germany,” include the legal frameworks governing tolerated stay, options for regularizing one’s status and …

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No more money for asylum-seekers obliged to leave Germany

Following the knife attack in Solingen last Friday, the German government has announced new measures to enhance security in the country. These include tightening gun laws and cancelling benefits for certain asylum-seekers. The government plans to revoke state benefits for asylum-seekers who fall under the responsibility of another European country according to the Dublin Regulation and which has agreed to …

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Community initiative supports new African immigrants in Berlin

A project to support recent migrants from Africa in Berlin, including refugees and asylum-seekers as well as those displaced by the war in Ukraine, relaunches on 15 May. Implemented by German-African Initiative for Development and Integration gUG, a non-profit social organisation, YANA Berlin II (YANA for You are not alone in Berlin) assists the African migrants by providing them important …

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Germany: Bundesrat approves dual citizenship, strict deportation rules

The Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the federal parliament, has approved two further components of the new migration policy of the governing federal coalition – the laws on faster naturalisation and deportations. The Bundesrat on Friday decided not to refer the citizenship law to the mediation committee. The new law, which was passed by the Bundestag in January, stipulates that …

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Germany: More than 50,000 residence permits issued

Almost 54,000 people have now received a residence permit through the right of residence programme (Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht) introduced just over a year ago by the German government. The amnesty scheme opens up a path to a long-term right of residence for tolerated persons. According to a survey conducted by Mediendienst Integration Service, 75,345 people have applied for a residence permit to …

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Germany: Parliament okays bill to make deportations faster

The Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, approved the new “Repatriation Improvement Act” (Rückführungsverbesserungsgesetz) on 18 January. The law provides for a significant tightening of deportation rules. Among other things, the maximum period of pre-deportation custody is to be extended from 10 to 28 days. The number of cases in which public prosecutors are to be involved in deportations from …

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Project: Enhancing support for Black communities in Berlin Mitte

An umbrella organisation of Black organisations in Germany, tubman.network, has successful completed the implementation of its ‘Professionalisation-Strategy’ project, aimed at bolstering support for Black communities in Berlin’s district of Mitte. Supported by the District Office Berlin-Mitte, the project addressed crucial challenges such as housing, psychosocial support, employment, access to education, emergency relief, access to health-services with a focus on providing …

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Germany: New Laws and Other Changes in November 2023

November 2023 brings some important changes not only for people living in Germany but also those aspiring to come and work in the country. Among other things, it will now be much easier for skilled workers to immigrate to Germany. Is your car insurance renewing on 1 January 2024? We have news for you! Also, we inform about this year’s …

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Germany: Project supports African migrants in Berlin

A project to support recent migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers from Africa as well as Africans displaced by the war from Ukraine, has launched in Berlin. Implemented by GAIDI, a non-profit social organisation, YANA Berlin (for You are not alone in Berlin) assists the African migrants by providing them important information that facilitates their integration into society. The project, …

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Germany considers sending asylum-seekers to North Africa

The German government has appointed a special representative on migration who is expected to negotiate with major origin countries of refugees in Germany. Joachim Stamp was named early March as Germany’s first-ever “Special representative of the federal government for migration agreements.” He’s been saddled with the responsibility of finding a solution to the about 250,000 rejected asylum-seekers who are tolerated …

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Germany: Law providing opportunity for regular residency for ‘tolerated persons’ enters into force

The Opportunity Residence Act (“Chancenaufenthaltsgesetz”) comes into force on 1 January 2023. Tolerated persons in Germany who had been living in Germany for five years or more on the cut-off date of 1 October 2022 are to receive a residence permit “on probation”. Tolerated persons are people who are obliged to leave the country but are allowed to stay temporarily …

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Germany: Reduced benefits for asylum-seekers in group accommodation unconstitutional, highest court declares

According to a ruling of Germany’s highest court on constitutional matters, the reduction of benefits for single adult asylum-seekers in group accommodation facilities is unconstitutional. The regulation, according to which asylum-seekers living in group accommodation receive ten per cent less benefits than refugees living in flats, violates the basic right to be guaranteed a minimum subsistence level worthy of human …

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Germany: How to institutionalise African youth education awards

The African Youth Education Awards (AYEA) 2022 marked its 10th anniversary on Saturday, 22 October, in Hamburg. The prestigious venue, a hall in the historic building housing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hamburg, was packed full of young people, their parents and guests, including diplomats, politicians, city officials and a vice-president of the German federal parliament (Bundestag), Aydan …

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Germany: Group launches Information Webinar Series for African Refugees from Ukraine

A group supporting Africans who had fled the war in Ukraine and are currently seeking refuge in Germany has launched a series of online information sessions. The webinar series, implemented by the non-profit organisation Horizon Resource Network under the auspices of ‘Help for Africans from Ukraine in Germany’ (HAUG), is to provide an orientation guide to the affected Africans, who …

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Germany: Non-EU citizens to be allowed to immigrate for work soon — Minister

Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil has announced an imminent reform of Germany’s immigration law to address the shortage of skilled workers in the country. The shortage of skilled workers has risen to a new high in Germany, affecting 49.7 percent of companies in July, according to the ifo Institute. Germany would have to pull out all the stops to secure …

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Germany: African Youth Education Awards marks 10th anniversary

The African Youth Education (AYE) Awards holds its annual award ceremony at the premises of the IHK in Hamburg on Saturday, 22 October 2022. The youth empowerment initiative, which promotes educational achievement in the African community in Germany, marks its 10th anniversary this year. The scheme was initiated in 2011 to act against the observed low educational attainment level of …

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Germany: Registration opens for African Youth Education Awards 2022

Registration for participation in the African Youth Education Awards (AYEA) 2022 has been flagged off by its organisers. Every year, young people who have excelled in their educational and training careers are honoured with AYEA at a colourful ceremony in Hamburg. AYEA, an initiative to promote higher educational achievements among youth in African-origin communities in Germany, started in 2010. The …

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