MIGRATION

Germany’s drive to recruit international talent is gathering pace. New figures show that reforms to immigration rules are bringing increasing numbers of skilled professionals from non-EU countries to help fill critical labour shortages. Since the Skilled Immigration Act came into force in 2020, around 765,000 people from non-EU countries have been granted residence permits linked to employment or skilled migration, …

Germany’s Muslim population has reached between 6.6 and 7 million people, according to a new projection by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge, BAMF). This represents 8.0 to 8.5 percent of the total population, a figure that challenges persistent public misperceptions, with surveys consistently showing that Germans dramatically overestimate the actual proportion of Muslims …

Refugee and asylum-seeking children in Germany are now entitled to significantly better healthcare, following changes that took effect on 12 June under the implementation of the European Union’s new asylum system. __________ While much of the EU’s Common European Asylum System (GEAS) introduces stricter border procedures and faster asylum processing, one aspect of the reform brings a clear benefit for …

The European Parliament has approved a sweeping overhaul of the EU’s return and deportation system, paving the way for the establishment of deportation centres in non-EU countries and granting member states broader powers to enforce removals. The legislation was adopted on 17 June 2026 in Strasbourg by 418 votes to 218, with 30 abstentions, following a provisional agreement reached between …

New UNHCR figures released ahead of World Refugee Day on 20 June show a four percent drop in global displacement in 2025 — the first reduction in ten years. The data offers a moment of cautious optimism, but rights groups warn that the numbers mask deepening long-term crises and deteriorating conditions across Europe. For the first time in ten years, …

Nigeria has emerged as Africa’s largest source of international students and now ranks as the world’s third-largest sender of students abroad, according to UNESCO’s first Higher Education Global Trends Report, released on 12 May 2026. The report found that Nigerian students accounted for 5% of global outbound student mobility in 2023, placing the country behind only China and India, and …

The European Union’s landmark Pact on Migration and Asylum enters into force on 12 June 2026, ushering in the most comprehensive reform of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) in decades. Designed to address longstanding weaknesses exposed during previous migration crises, the pact consists of ten interlinked legislative acts that reshape how the EU manages migration and processes asylum claims. …

Ghana has begun evacuating hundreds of its citizens from South Africa following renewed anti-immigrant protests and fears of xenophobic violence in the country. The first chartered flight carrying 297 Ghanaians landed in Accra on Wednesday as part of a voluntary repatriation programme approved by President John Dramani Mahama. Ghanaian authorities say more than 800 nationals have registered to return home …

New figures from Europe’s statistical agency show that first-time asylum applications in the EU fell by more than a quarter last year. The headline numbers conceal a more complex picture — one in which Africans fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty remain significantly represented, particularly among the unaccompanied children making dangerous journeys to Europe. The number of people seeking asylum in …

I write as a Ghanaian lawyer to express my concerns about recent developments in South Africa. Mainstream and social media have been inundated with videos of some South Africans verbally confronting citizens of other African countries living in South Africa. These actions demonstrate an unwelcoming and troubling attitude towards fellow Africans who live and work in the country. In one …

Germany’s courts and authorities are sending a clear message: foreign nationals who commit serious crimes can lose their right to stay in the country and face deportation. A recent court ruling in Karlsruhe has renewed debate over how far Germany may go in removing foreigners — especially Syrians — from the country. Germany’s Administrative Court in Karlsruhe has issued a …

By Felix Dappah, The African Courier  In a move that has set Spain apart from virtually every other government in Europe, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s administration has formally launched a mass regularisation programme for undocumented migrants, opening application windows on 16 April 2026 for online submissions and 20 April for in-person filings. The application period runs until 30 June 2026. …

Germany has long wrestled with its identity as a nation shaped by migration. Now, new data from the Federal Statistical Office — known by its German acronym Destatis — has put a sharper number on just how profoundly that transformation has taken hold: more than one in four people living in the country has an immigration history. According to the …

Germany saw a steep fall in first-time asylum applications in the opening quarter of 2026, even as a separate category of claims — follow-up applications from Afghan nationals — jumped to extraordinary levels, according to new data from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). Between January and March, a total of 21,617 refugees submitted an initial asylum application …

Germany’s upper house has approved legislation to implement the EU’s reformed Common European Asylum System, bringing faster border procedures, stricter Dublin transfers, and new detention-like centres for migrants who must leave Germany — with rights organisations warning of serious consequences for vulnerable people. Germany has taken a decisive step towards one of the most significant tightenings of European asylum law …

Signed on the margins of President Tinubu’s state visit to London, one landmark agreement on migration and two MoUs on organised crime and business visas carry real implications for Nigerians at home and in the diaspora During President Bola Tinubu’s two-day state visit to the United Kingdom (on 18 and 19 March 2026), both countries signed an agreement establishing a …

The German Bundestag has passed a major overhaul of the country’s asylum laws. The new rules — enacted on Friday, 27 February 2026 — implement a European Union asylum reform while also introducing new national measures that go further. They aim to process asylum applications faster, reduce so-called “secondary movement” across EU borders and return people who are not eligible …

The number of asylum-seekers challenging rejected protection claims in Germany has risen sharply in recent years, putting growing pressure on the country’s administrative courts, according to media reports. Figures reported by the Deutsche Richterzeitung (German Judges’ Journal) show that the number of lawsuits filed by rejected asylum-seekers has doubled within two years. In 2023, Germany’s administrative courts received 71,885 appeals …

The UK has announced an immediate suspension of education visas for nationals of Cameroon, Sudan, Myanmar, and Afghanistan, countries that are battling serious internal security crisis. London argues that the measure is necessary after a sharp rise in asylum claims linked to student visa holders from the four countries. According to the Home Office, such applications rose by more than …

Germany is preparing to overhaul its asylum rules to give people seeking protection quicker access to the labour market, as part of broader migration reforms. The federal government announced plans in Berlin to enable asylum-seekers to start working and integrating into society sooner, even while their applications are being processed. Under the new proposal, asylum-seekers who have been in Germany …