EUROPE

Muslim migrants who refuse to embrace European values must realize there are better places for them to reside than in the EU, Wolfgang Schaeuble, the German Finance Minister has said. Muslims who don’t want to change their ways after arriving in Europe must be told, “you’ve made the wrong decision,” Schaeuble said during a round table discussion in Berlin on …

The number of African organisations in Germany is astounding. More than 700 African clubs and associations support projects in Africa or promote sporting activities and African culture in Germany. At the same time they also support integration into German society. However, like all voluntary organisations they depend on donations. MoneyGram, one of the world’s leading providers of innovative money-transfer solutions …

Asylum seekers’ chances of staying in Germany depend not only on threats they may face back home, but also in which German state they filed their applications, a study has shown. Its co-author has criticized this as an “asylum lottery.” Asylum seekers in the German states of Saarland and Bremen are most likely to be granted asylum, according to a …

An Archbishop-elect who sexually assaulted a teenage girl and a woman during private prayer sessions has been jailed by a court in London. Benjamin Egbujor, 55, of Harold Avenue, Belvedere, Kent, has been sentenced at Inner London Crown Court to three years and four months’ imprisonment, after he was found guilty of sexual assault and causing or inciting a child …

The UK is the most corrupt country on earth, using Gibraltar, Jersey and other territories to funnel dirty cash. That’s the view of anti-mafia journalist Roberto Saviano who claims the financial services industry in London facilitates worldwide criminal capitalism. ‘‘Transparency groups have shown this with irrefutable data. The UK is already the most, without doubt, the most corrupt country in …

Germany’s upper house of the federal parliament Bundesrat has approved the federal government’s plan to make drivers pay for using the country’s highways. Neighbouring countries have threatened to take legal action. Ben Knight reports. The Bundesrat finally passed Germany’s highway toll bill on Friday. The upper house of the German parliament, made up of the 16 state governments, voted for …

  Just a day after activists prevented a plane carrying dozens of Ghanaian and Nigerian would-be expellees from taking off at London’s Stansted Airport, 23 Nigerians were deported from the United Kingdom on Friday. The all male deportees, who were sent back to their home country for various immigration offences, arrived at the Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport at about …

It was drama at the Stansted airport in London on Tuesday as activists prevented the mass deportation of Nigerians and Ghanaians. The activists, working under the name Stop Charter Flights – End Deportations, blocked the runway of the Stansted airport carrying banners and chanting songs condemning deportations. A video recording showed some of them were under the wing of a …

Britain formally launched the process for leaving the European Union today, nine months after the island nation voted to leave the EU. Britain became the first country ever to seek a divorce, striking a blow at the heart of the union forged from the ashes of World War II. Just days after the Union’s 60th birthday, Britain handed over a …

Germany’s Christian-Democratic Union (CDU) party won Saarland’s state election on Sunday, with 40.7 percent, far ahead of the Social-Democratic Party (SPD), with 29.6 percent. The closely-watched election in the small, western state, which was the first since Martin Schulz became SDP leader, was seen as a test for him and CDU’s Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of the September general elections. …

Virginia Wangare Greiner, the founder of Maisha e. V., a psychosocial centre in Frankfurt, has been honoured with the prestigious Elisabeth Norgall International Award. She was bestowed with the honour recently by the International Women’s Club (IWC) of Frankfurt in recognition of her efforts concerning the needs and problems of women. Ms Greiner, who is originally from Kenya, has been honoured …

What is it like to be a Black person living in Germany? What does it mean to be excluded from your own society? Prominent guests met recently to discuss these questions and more at the launch of the new multimedia project ‘Afro.Germany’ by the German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW). “I used to want to be white,” says Jana Pareigis, …

The German parliament’s upper chamber has rejected a law that would have allowed quicker deportations to Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria. The decision deals a blow to Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee strategy, reports Jefferson Chase. In the end, the vote wasn’t even close. Led by federal states with left-leaning governing coalitions, a wide majority of the Bundesrat shot down a law …

More than 40.000 people with Ghanaian heritage live in Germany, which makes them the biggest African community in the country from south of the Sahara. Half of them still have Ghanaian citizenship.

Since its introduction in August 2012, 53704 highly-qualified immigrants have received an EU Blue Card in Germany, according to figures just released by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). The EU Blue Card, a single work and residence permit, allows non-EU citizens with a university degree to take up employment in the EU commensurate with their qualifications. Holders …

Germany has unveiled a new national passport with improved security features. The new passport has a new design as well and is slightly smaller than the previous one. The redesigned identity document, which features a security mark in the shape of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, was shown to the public for the first time on Thursday in Berlin. “The new German …

“We are being stared at strangely and we are being verbally abused,” says Pastor Thaddeus Ejiofor Eze as mood changes in town against Africans The Nigerian asylum-seeker suspected of killing Soopika P., a refugee aid worker, in the western German town of Ahaus on 11 February has agreed to be swiftly extradited to Germany from Switzerland. According to Martin Botzenhardt, …

He debunks the argument of the German government that the Nigerian asylum claims are not credible, arguing that there are enough grounds to allow them to stay just as the Syrians are granted residency.

Germany’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge or BAMF) would be allowed to examine refugees’ mobile phone records to establish their true identity under a proposed law. The bill aims to prevent refugees from giving false identities, reports Kate Brady. According to information published by three German media outlets on Sunday, a new draft legislation …

The 22-year-old man whose arrest in northern Paris sparked nights of protests across France has thanked his supporters. Theo posted the video message on Facebook after being discharged from hospital. The protests, which have led to over 200 arrests around France, follow allegations that he was beaten and raped with a police baton during an arrest attempt on February 2. …