Germany

Ryyan Alshebl (pictured above on a campaign poster) has become a mayor in Germany, only eight years after arriving in the country as a refugee/Photo: Ryyan Alshebl/Facebook The inhabitants of Ostelsheim, in the district of Calw, state of Baden-Württemberg, elected Ryyan Alshebl as their new mayor on Sunday with an absolute majority of 55.41 per cent of the votes. The …

Like almost every month, April 2023 brings some important changes for people living in Germany. Most are positive changes but there are also some inconveniences for rail passengers. Among other things, the advance sale of the much-awaited 49-Euro-Ticket will commence, the few remaining COVID-19 rules will expire, more pay for temporary workers and some routes of the Deutsche Bahn will …

The SPD politician Mike Josef is the new Lord Mayor of the City of Frankfurt am Main. The 40-year-old received 51.7 per cent of the votes in a run-off election on Sunday, relegating his main opponent Uwe Becker (CDU) to second place. Becker received 48.3 per cent. Josef has been the city’s head of planning and sports until now. He …

Love kept at a distance: German national Linda Wendt is fighting to establish a life in Germany with her husband. But he cannot move here without first passing a language test. A major problem — but not an isolated case. A special report by Andrea Grunau, DW Linda Wendt and Moro Diop* are a couple. But they live their everyday …

The duration of asylum proceedings in Germany increased again last year, the Federal Ministry of the Interior has reported. In 2022, it took an average of 7.6 months for a decision to be made by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, one month longer than in 2021, according to a response by the Ministry to a question from the …

Amal Abbass has been awarded this year’s Berliner Frauenpreis (Berlin Women’s Prize). The Black German social entrepreneur was honoured for her long years of engagement for the equality of women who because of their skin colour or gender identity are subjected to discrimination. Amal Abbass, a native of Dresden whose father was a Sudanese, is a transcultural psychologist who has …

Members of The African Network of Germany (TANG) have elected a new board to pilot the affairs of the organisation for the next five years. The election, part of the activities of the group’s ordinary general meeting 2023, took place on 11 March 2023 in Freiburg. Dr Sylvie Nantcha was unanimously re-elected Chairperson of TANG, an umbrella body for African …

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 …

In view of the increasing shortage of skilled workers in Germany, the Christian Democrats (CDU) in the state of Lower Saxony can envisage the integration of rejected asylum-seekers into the labour market. It is a matter of “our prosperity and our economy”, the party, which normally has always maintained a hardline position on asylum-seekers, says. The CDU group in Lower …

Almost a quarter of the people living in Germany have an immigration history. In 2021, almost 19 million people who had either immigrated themselves or both parents had immigrated since 1950 lived in the country, according to a new report of the Federal Statistical Office. 17.3 percent of the population have immigrated to Germany since 1950, another 5.7 percent are …

The case of the asylum seeker Oury Jalloh, who burnt to death in controversial circumstances in a police cell in Dessau in 2005, has gone the European Court of Human Rights. Recently, Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court confirmed the closure of the investigation even though experts insist that the official version of the incident is “impossible” and Jalloh’s family accuses the …

March brings some relief for the pockets for millions of consumers in Germany. The energy price brakes come into force and students will now also receive relief payment for their energy costs. Here’s an overview of important changes in March. —— Energy price brakes take effectThe energy price brakes for millions of gas, electricity and district heating consumers will take …

The victims of the racist terrorist attack three years ago were remembered in Hanau on Sunday. At noon, around 500 representatives from politics, civil society and religious communities gathered at the market square for a memorial service. Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD), the Chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Annette Kurschus, and Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris …

A 16-year-old Senegalese boy was shot last year in the course of a police operation in Dortmund. Five police officers have now been charged to court over the tragic incident, which sparked protests in the African community. One officer is accused of manslaughter, three of dangerous bodily harm and another of incitement to dangerous bodily harm, as Dortmund senior public …

The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) is not allowed to analyse the mobile phones of asylum-seekers without a concrete reason. This practice is inadmissible if other available findings and documents are not sufficiently taken into account, the Federal Administrative Court ruled in Leipzig on Thursday. For years, the BAMF, which is the central migration authority in Germany responsible …

Despite an illegal deportation to his home country, a former asylum-seeker from the Democratic Republic of Congo is not entitled to be brought back to Germany. This is the decision of the Administrative Court of Düsseldorf, which rejected an urgent application by the man. A repatriation of the asylum-seeker to Germany would not make sense because the man had no …

Dr Sylvie Nantcha, chairman of The African Network of Germany (TANG), has called for an improved recording of the numbers of politically motivated attacks against Black people in Germany. She made the plea during the official presentation of the first situation report on Racism in Germany in Berlin recently. The event, which took place at the office of the chancellor …

A university teacher has taken the government of Berlin, one of Germany’s 16 federal states, to court over what he describes as “racist mistreatment at the Immigration office Berlin”. The case, filed by Mbolo Yufanyi Movuh, a lecturer at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences (ASH), Berlin, will be heard on Thursday (9 February) at the Berlin District Court, …

Like almost every new month, February 2023 brings some important changes, including new laws, for people living in Germany. For example, no more compulsory masks on long-distance trains, more drinking fountains in public spaces and 16-year olds will also be allowed to vote in the European Parliament elections in Germany in future. These and other regulations come into force in …

Germany’s Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, has called for quick sentences of perpetrators of the New Year’s Eve riots in several German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Dortmund and Essen. During a visit to a fire station in the Berlin district of Neukölln on Friday, Ms Faeser said juvenile offenders should immediately feel a quick legal consequence of their …