Until now, refugees from Ukraine have been able to use public transport in cities and towns across Germany without a ticket. This regulation expires on 31 May 2022. Refugees from Ukraine therefore require a ticket when travelling on public transport from 1 June. An affordable alternative is the 9-Euro Ticket, which entitles holders to travel on public transport (regular buses, …
Read More »IOM Germany launches Survey of non-Ukrainian refugees from Ukraine
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) Germany has launched a survey of Third Country Nationals (TCNs) from Ukraine in Germany. The pilot survey aims to generate first knowledge pertaining to TCNs’ needs, challenges and also vulnerabilities in Germany in order to inform advocacy and projects by IOM Germany and relevant stakeholders. The survey is easily accessible online via numerous devices (Computer, …
Read More »Prolonged stay of Ukrainian refugees likely – German minister
The opinion of migration experts that refugees from Ukraine will stay longer in Germany as expected has now been supported by a member of the federal cabinet. Federal Labour Minister Hubertus Heil considers a longer stay of war refugees likely due to the level of destruction in many Ukrainian cities. “We have to be prepared for long periods of stay …
Read More »Germany: Important information for Africans from Ukraine
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, more than 4 million Ukrainians and people of other nationalities resident in the country have fled to other European countries. According to the German government, more than 400,000 of the displaced are currently in Germany to seek refuge – among these are thousands of Africans. While the legal …
Read More »Germany extends visa free status for refugees from Ukraine
The edict allowing people fleeing the war in Ukraine to enter Germany without a visa and reside in the country without a permit has been extended. The Ukraine Residence Transition Ordinance (UkraineAufenthĂśV), issued by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on 7 March 2022, is currently valid until 23 May 2022. An amendment** of the edict was approved by the …
Read More »German charged with murder of Ghanaian man after 30 years
A man in Germany has been arrested and charged with murder more than 30 years after an arson attack on a shelter for asylum-seekers in the city of Saarlouis. A young Ghanaian had died of severe burns and smoke inhalation as a result of the attack. A 50-year-old German national, identified as Peter S., was arrested in the western city …
Read More »Support group for Africans from Ukraine launches in Germany
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, about 4 million Ukrainians and people of other nationalities resident in the country have been seeking refuge in European countries, according to the UN refugee agency. Among the refugees are Africans and Asians, many of whom are students, who are resident in Ukraine. Non-Ukrainians fleeing the war have …
Read More »Musa’s Return to The Gambia after Seven Years in Europe
A migrant’s personal story of return, resolution and resilience TĂĽbingen – It’s a warm summer day in 2021. Musa Coker sits in the office of his return counsellor. He has visited the small office in Southwest Germany multiple times this year, seeking information, advice and counsel and discussing his return to The Gambia, his country of origin. Today, Musa will …
Read More »Ukraine: Germany promises better registration of refugees
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, speaking in the Bundestag (federal parliament) on Wednesday, said the registration of displaced persons from the war in Ukraine was currently being improved. Refugees who are admitted to initial reception centres are registered there. This should be further intensified, she said. As at Wednesday (16 March), the Federal Police had registered around 175,000 refugees from …
Read More »Germany deports 34 Nigerians aboard charter flight
According to the information of Refugees4Refugees, a rights group, 34 Nigerians were deported to their home country on Tuesday (15 March). It was the first deportation carried out onboard a charter flight this year. The deportees, who were forcibly returned aboard an aircraft belonging to Iberojet to Lagos, are persons whose asylum claims had be rejected. Thirty of the 34 …
Read More »EU court rules against Germany on detention of deportees
Germany has suffered defeat at the European Court of Justice over the detention of persons to be deported. The court ruled that would-be deportees should not be remanded in a place that could be described as a prison People who are to be deported may not be detained as if they were prisoners, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has …
Read More »Germany: African shot dead by police in refugee hostel
A 40-year-old asylum-seeker from Sudan has been shot dead by the police in a shelter for refugees and asylum-seekers in Lower Saxony, the news agency AFP has reported. Police officers were said to have shot the man on Sunday evening when he allegedly attacked them with a knife during an operation in the asylum-seeker accommodation in Harsefeld, Lower Saxony, AFP …
Read More »Gambia rejects deportation flights from Europe
The Gambia has formally announced that it would no longer accept flights bringing its citizens deported from the European Union, the AFP reports. Gambian foreign ministry spokesman Saikou Ceesay told the news agency that large numbers of returning migrants would cause “social upheaval” in the country. “We are trying to consolidate the peace, stability and democracy we have in this …
Read More »IOM: “Our priority is that people get the support they ask for”
How an IOM frontline worker goes beyond return counselling by providing African migrants in Germany with the support they need Berlin – It is a full day for Danielle Al-Qassir at the foreign immigration office in Berlin. “I have clients calling me on my work phone, my private phone and the landline, and we have clients coming in in-person,” she …
Read More »Germany: Courts affirm positive asylum decisions revoked after 2018 scandal
In 2018, Germany’s asylum office BAMF came under fire for supposedly wrongly issuing numerous positive asylum decisions. Now, German courts have ruled in favour of 66 refugees whose positive asylum decisions had been revoked. Benjamin Bathke/DW reports German administrative courts have ruled in favour of 66 refugees after they brought lawsuits against the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees …
Read More »COVID-19 information for migrants and refugees in Germany
The COVID-19 pandemic is changing every day. What is true or good advice now can rapidly become out-of-date, so it’s important to check sites that are updated regularly. Here’s a general guide for migrants and refugees in Germany by Marion MacGregor In Germany, the spread and containment of the virus and the rules of conduct can be different from state …
Read More »Free digital training course for migrant women in Berlin
The FrauenComputerZentrumBerlin e.V. Â 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 …
Read More »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 …
Read More »Germany: Man on trial for aiding refugees to avoid deportation
A man has been charged to the Aschaffenburg district court on Thursday (16 July) for having called for the commission of a criminal offence on a website on the subject of “citizen asylum”. The accused man from Hanau is listed as the person responsible in the imprint of the website, as the court and public prosecutor’s office confirmed on Wednesday. …
Read More »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-WĂĽrttemberg. This was confirmed by the federal police at Frankfurt Airport to the newspaper SĂĽddeutsche Zeitung. …
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