MIGRATION

Journalists in the European Union and Switzerland can enter a contest on migration, integration, diversity and democratic culture. The CIVIS Media Foundation is looking for the best programmes focusing on the issues of migration, integration and cultural diversity in Europe  Radio, film, television and online stories are eligible for the CIVIS Media Prize. The categories are the CIVIS Top Award, …

The Berlin Ausländerbehörde (Berlin Foreigners’ Registration Office) became the Landesamt für Einwanderung (“State Office for Immigration”) on 1 January 2020.  Berlin became the first German state to establish an independent agency for immigrants in anticipation of the new Fachkräfteeinwanderungsgesetz (Skilled Labour Immigration Act), which goes into effect in March. For the director of the State Office for Immigration, the new …

Germany’s federal police chief said a lack of pre-deportation facilities is hampering the deportation of rejected asylum seekers and illegal foreigners to third-countries. Germany is struggling to deport rejected asylu-seekers, the country’s top police chief said on Wednesday. Federal police chief Dieter Romann blamed a lack of pre-deportation facilities for deportations not being carried out. Speaking to Germany’s Funke media group, he said …

An order for pretrial custody has been issued for two Nigerian women residing in Italy. They are accused of recruiting women from Nigeria, including minors, and forcing them into prostitution in the city of Ferrara, both on the street and in apartments. One of the women was arrested, but the other is still being sought by police.   Police in …

A group of 25 Malians without papers, who had been illegally employed on a big building site in Paris in 2016, have each been awarded €34,000 in damages, with interest, for “systematic racial discrimination” by a French employment tribunal. The French employment tribunal, “Le Conseil de Prud’Hommes de Paris” made the award to the group of 25 Malians on Tuesday, …

Gorgui Lamine Sow, an undocumented migrant from Senegal, has become a hero in Spain after he saved a man in a wheelchair from a fire in the man’s apartment. Now, the Spanish authorities are considering whether to award Sow a residency permit,  Emma Wallis reports. “I didn’t think about anything. I just heard screams and ran to help,” Gorgui Lamine …

The Embassy of Nigerian in Germany has denied issuing travel documents indiscriminately for the deportation of failed Nigerian asylum-seekers from the country. Alhaji Mohammed Bello Musa Anka, Minister for Consular & Immigration, explained that before an Emergency Travel Certificate (ETC) is issued the recipient must have been interviewed by officials of the embassy to ascertain that they’re indeed Nigerians and …

Edo State Commissioner of Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon. Monday Osaigbovo, recently paid a courtesy call on Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, HE Alhaji Maitama Tuggar, in his office in Berlin. Mr Osaigbovo was accompanied on the visit by Barrister Efosa Ogieriakhi, president of Edo in Diaspora Worldwide, Mr Austin Imade, Director of Edo Cultural Festival Germany, and several other …

An insidious trend has emerged across Germany: More and more young women from Nigeria are being trafficked into prostitution. It is one of organized crime's most lucrative business models, but the ringleaders are rarely caught.  Marion MacGregor reports

Thousands of asylum-seekers in Germany have returned multiple times after deportation, according to a report in the German media. Those with entry bans often serve a few months in jail or are not arrested at all.

Italy’s national anti-mafia and anti-terrorism prosecutor Federico Cafiero de Raho has said that African criminal organizations are dangerous and are controlling migration from Libya to Europe. He claimed that while the Nigerian mafia is currently the strongest, various organizations work together in a sort of consortium. Investigations on migrant flows from Libya have brought to light a link between several …

“Yet these bright, ambitious young people share a perception that opportunities to fulfil their aspirations at home are closed. This perception is held so profoundly that it has driven many to reject their known circumstances in favour of a potentially perilous and irregular journey to an unknown future in Europe.”

Unauthorized immigrants are defined as people living in a country without citizenship and without residency permits which includes asylum-seekers with a pending decision.

Last year, Nigeria was one of the main countries of origin of asylum-seekers in Germany. Against this background, the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung invited German and Nigerian officials to a technical roundtable discussion in Berlin on Thursday. Among others, the experts discussed how to make rejected Nigerian asylum-seekers leave Germany voluntarily and explore possible solutions to irregular migration from their country. Femi Awoniyi, …

When 19-year-old Fatim Jawara embarked on a dangerous journey across the Saharan desert in 2016, her goal was to make it big as a footballer in Europe. But the aspiring athlete from the Gambia never got to follow her dreams: Her life ended when the dinghy she travelled on sank in the Mediterranean Sea. The memory of her lives on …

"There are massive deficiencies at certain locations, which results in asylum applications being rejected in large numbers ... all those seeking protection must find equal opportunities throughout Germany."

Around 56 per cent of the migrants were deported by scheduled airlines, 32 per cent by charter flights, the rest by..

A new UN study takes a closer look at who the migrants coming from Africa to Europe are – and why they left. One of the findings: Migrants are often more educated than their peers who stayed home.  Sertan Sanderson reports The vast majority of African migrants who live in Europe come from the most developed sections of their own …

“Many of the deportees roam about in Lagos and are homeless because no provisions had been made by the Germans or our own government for their dignified reception”

In Europe, everyone, including refugees, asylum-seekers and those with a tolerated stay have the right to a payment account with basic features. A look at the ins and outs of opening a bank account in Germany and everything that goes with it.