Germany

Berlin to rename Mohrenstrasse after African philosopher

In what could be described as a major victory for the Black community’s long struggle for the renaming of streets bearing names derogatory or disrespectful of Africans in the federal capital, the District Assembly (Bezirksversammlung) of Berlin-Mitte has approved the name change of the Mohrenstrasse (Moor Street). On Thursday evening, the assembly decided to rename Mohrenstrasse. In the future, the …

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Beware of fake Nigerian driving licence, Berlin lawyer warns Nigerians in Europe

A Berlin-based legal practitioner has warned Nigerians in Germany to be careful when procuring driving licence from their home country. He gave the advice while speaking with The African Courier, revealing that he was presently handling several cases involving fake driving licences from Nigeria which were submitted to the German authorities for recognition.

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Travellers entering Germany must undergo mandatory coronavirus test — or pay €25,000

Federal Minister of Health Jens Spahn has decided to make corona testing mandatory for people entering Germany. It will apply to all travellers entering Germany from high-risk areas from Saturday, 8 August. The Robert Koch Institute (RKI), Germany’s centre for disease control, lists the countries that are classified as high-risk areas on its website. The list of high-risk areas currently …

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Germany: New legal regulations from 1 August 2020

The new month begins with a number of legislative changes that you should be aware of. From August 2020, not only corona tests will be mandatory for people returning to Germany from some countries, but there will also be more financial support for pupils, students and employees in further education and training. Moreover, there will be changes affecting government assistance …

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Too black for some, too white for others: Conflicts of Afro-German Identity

“I’m used to not being German enough, living in this country, but not being African enough to represent Africa in Germany was a new one to me,” writes Jennifer Odusola, narrating the complexity of the experience of Germans of dual African-German heritage. — Thoughtless statements or comments that aren’t meant to ‘offend’ often have ways of exposing hidden conflicts regarding …

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Latest figures of Germany’s population with migrant background published by statistics agency

The share of people with a migrant background in Germany rose to 21.2 million last year, the Federal Statistical Office said in a report on Tuesday. They represent roughly 26% of Germany’s population. The figure represented a 2.1% increase from the previous year, but it was the slowest rise in people with a migration background since 2011. In Germany, a …

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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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Nnamdi Kanu ‘directs’ IPOB members in Germany to rename Nigerian association

Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has “directed” his supporters in the Nigerian Community Germany Football Club (NCG FC) Hamburg to change the name of the sporting association to IPOB FC Hamburg. “I am directing that Nigerian Community Germany Football Club Hamburg be renamed IPOB FC Hamburg,”  Kanu announced on his Facebook page on Thursday. …

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Germany’s interior ministry plans study on violence against police

A study on racial profiling in Germany’s police services was cancelled by Interior Minister Horst Seehofer two weeks ago. Instead, the Federal Ministry of the Interior is now making preparations for a study on violence against police officers. Critics accuse Seehofer of hypocrisy According to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, it is making preparations for a study on violence …

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Afrozensus: Online survey on anti-Black racism in Germany launched

Racism in different forms and places is a common experience for the more than one million people of African descent in Germany. Black people are often subjected to police identity control more than other groups. Also, they experience discrimination in public offices, at the workplace, while accessing healthcare, looking for apartment, in schools, in the justice system, in their neighbourhoods …

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Dresdeners stand together against racism and police violence in Germany

Anna Swaboda, a member of power4africa e.V., reports on a demonstration against anti-Black racism in the eastern city of Dresden on Sunday. “The only thing that should be separated according to colour is laundry” was the message on a banner at the Black Lives Matter demonstration on Sunday afternoon in Dresden. Several hundreds of people gathered at Dresden’s Neumarkt square …

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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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Special Report: Ghanaians in Germany – 1950s till today

Estimates of the number of Ghanaians living outside their homeland range from one to three million out of a general population of about 30 million. Ghanaians in Germany are reputed to form the second largest of the country’s diaspora populations in Europe, after the United Kingdom. Journalist, translator and community activist Sam Atsu Nove*, who first arrived in Germany in …

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MEP Herzberger-Fofana slams Seehofer for cancelling racial profiling study in Germany

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, member of the European Parliament, MEP, has criticised Germany’s Interior Minister, Horst Seehofer, for stopping the planned investigation into racial profiling in the country’s police services. In a press statement issued on Wednesday, Ms Herzberger-Fofana, who represents Germany on the platform of the Green party in the European parliament, said Seehofer by his decision “denies the existence …

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