MIGRATION

The United Nations has criticised Algeria for expelling sub-Saharan migrants and refugees, mostly coming from Mali, Cameroon and Nigeria. After Algeria had requested help from the UN to support a huge influx of migrants, the UN on Tuesday urged the Algerian authorities to stop expelling such migrants. UN spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani told a regular UN briefing in Geneva that deportations …

Immigration offices in Germany do not have hardware they need to identify migrants, according to media reports. A lack of fingerprint scanners means authorities cannot keep track of asylum-seekers. Officials at immigration and welfare offices attempting to identify asylum-seekers face serious difficulty ensuring people are not taking advantage of German social services, according to reports in Die Welt and the …

The international humanitarian non-governmental organisation Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has reported that there are 700,000 migrants in Libya and torture is increasing in the country’s clandestine prisons. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) head of mission in Libya, Christophe Biteau, has shared his analysis of the precarious living conditions of migrants and refugees assisted by the organisation in the region of Bali …

Nearly every second deportation from Germany was cancelled in the first quarter of 2018, according to the German Federal Police. Some of the deportations are called off at the last minute. Charlotte Hauswedell reports. Between January and March this year, a total of 5,548 rejected asylum-seekers were deported from Germany, a spokesperson for the Federal Police told the Funke media …

Nigeria has faulted claims that there were 30,000 of its citizens as irregular migrants in Germany who are awaiting repatriation. The Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, said on Wednesday that Nigeria disputes the figure. “To begin with, we dispute that figure of 30,000. That is not the case. We do not have up to 30,000 Nigerian asylum …

The German Federal Office for Migration and Asylum (BAMF) will re-examine some 18,000 cases in which refugees were granted asylum in Germany, the agency’s director, Jutta Cordt, has announced. The inspection will cover all successful asylum applications filed as far back as 2000, she added while addressing a press conference on Friday. The measure will be applied to all asylum …

The UN migration agency has announced that 700 Ghanaian migrants have been repatriated from Libya since June last year as part of a program on voluntary assisted repatriations in co-operation with the European Union. A total of 706 Ghanaian migrants (661 men and 45 women) who were stranded in Libya have been assisted to return home since June 2017 as …

EU member states are expected to increase detention centre capacity and step up migrant deportations, in line with a request from the European Commission. The European Commission has asked member states to increase their detention centre capacity and step up deportations of economic migrants, according to the latest report on the implementation of the EU Agenda on Migration Policy. The …

 Germany has put forward a new proposal for the repatriation of some 30,000 undocumented Nigerian migrants to their home country. Dr Jan Hecker, foreign policy adviser to Chancellor Angela Merkel, visited Abuja last week to hold talks with Nigerian officials on the deportation plan. In an exclusive interview with the German international broadcaster, Deutsche Welle (DW), Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Geoffrey Onyeama …

A medical doctor in Bavaria has publicly announced his decision to stop treating asylum-seekers, after working in a reception centre for three years. He claims half of his patients were simply medical tourists. Health organizations have denounced his statements. Charlotte Hauswedell reports. A doctor working in the Deggendorf reception centre in Germany’s southern state of Bavaria told the German newspaper …

The Schengen area comprises of European countries that have abolished passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. The area mostly functions as a single jurisdiction for international travel purposes, with a common visa policy. The Schengen Agreement, which seeks to create a single European territory devoid of internal borders, was signed by five European Union …

The European Commission is proposing to upgrade the Visa Information System (VIS), the database containing information on persons applying for Schengen visas, in order to better respond to evolving security and migratory challenges. A proposal by the European Commission on Wednesday to upgrade the Visa Information System (VIS) aims to make it easier for police to identify people not permitted …

The man has arrived in Milan one day after authorities denied his appeal to stay in Germany. The case sparked major national attention when other migrants prevented authorities’ first attempt to deport him. A 23-year-old refugee from Togo, who made headlines with the attempts to block his deportation order has landed in Italy, authorities confirmed on Tuesday. The news came …

According to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), there has been a significant drop in the number of migrants and refugees who have travelled to Europe by sea compared to the same period last year. The UN migration agency has just released its numbers on how many migrants and refugees have travelled to Europe so far this year. According to …

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has urged the Austrian government to keep the protection of refugees at the centre of draft amendments to the country’s asylum law. The UNHCR has presented a juridical analysis of the draft amendments to Austria’s asylum law, urging the Austrian government to uphold its commitment to protect sensitive asylum policies. The organization expressed ”concern” about …

Germany granted residence permit to some 35,000 Eritrean refugees last year. This entitles them to bring their families over. But not all are successful. Daniel Pelz of Deutsche Welle (DW) reports on the reasons for this. With its population of around five million, Eritrea is one of the main countries of origin of African refugees. Young people especially are among …

The German Cabinet has approved legislation allowing refugees with subsidiary protection status to bring their direct relatives to Germany. Critics say that the bill breaches human rights, and that it will force more migrants to put their fate in the hands of people-smugglers. Marion MacGregor of Deutsche Welle (DW) reports. German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Cabinet on Wednesday voted to resettle …

Since 13 April 2018, a delegation of the Dortmund, Germany-based association AfricanTide Union e.V. has been in Yenagoa, the capital of the Nigerian state of Bayelsa. Although the region, situated in the Niger Delta, has high oil and gas reserves, the population suffers from high levels of poverty and unemployment. Many people therefore are fleeing the region, even to Europe. …

Seventeen Nigerian migrants who survived a deadly sea crossing last year have filed a lawsuit against Italy for violating their rights by supporting Libya’s efforts to return them to North Africa, their lawyers said on Tuesday. The plaintiffs, two of whom have returned to Nigeria, petitioned the European Court of Human Rights last week, Violeta Moreno-Lax, a legal advisor for …

German police Thursday raided a refugee centre where they had met violent resistance three days earlier when they tried to pick up a Togolese man for deportation. Several hundred armoured police searched the facility in Ellwangen, Baden-Wuerttemberg state, during the dawn operation and arrested the 23-year-old rejected asylum seeker, authorities said. In the early hours of Monday, four police had …