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27 March

Sierra Leone: Supreme Court postpones presidential runoff

Sierra Leone’s presidential runoff vote has been postponed to Saturday, March 31 by the Supreme Court, the elections body announced late Monday (March 26) in an official statement. The original date was Tuesday, March 21 but a High Court injunction affected the electoral body’s preparation leading to the four-day extension. Lawyers for the Sierra Leone National Electoral Commission (NEC) approached …

27 March

Angola charges son of former president with $500 million fraud

The son of Angola’s ex-president, José Filomeno dos Santos, has been charged with fraud relating to the illegal transfer of $500 million to a British bank out of an account belonging to the country’s Sovereign Fund, the prosecutor general’s office said on Monday. Dos Santos is the highest profile figure to be charged since President Joao Lourenco succeeded former leader …

26 March

Nigerians to gather in London for Diaspora Day 2018

Nigerians in the Diaspora will converge on the British capital in July to mark this year’s Diaspora Day, the first time the event will be held outside Nigeria. The Governing Council of the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Worldwide (NIDOWW) has announced that the Nigerian Diaspora Day will take place on 26-28 July in London. It’s the first time that the …

26 March

Spanish police arrest 89 Nigerians, break up sex trafficking gang

Spanish police have arrested 89 persons and broken up what they said was a sex trafficking ring. Spanish police have rescued 39 women and girls smuggled in from Nigeria and trafficked into sex work by a notorious Nigerian gang. Europol says the victims were kept in “squalid conditions in caves” and intimidated with voodoo threats. According to the BBC report, …

26 March

Fewer deportations from Germany due to lack of travel documents

The number of migrants who cannot be deported rose in Germany in 2017. Authorities often struggle to obtain the relevant travel documents from their countries of origin, according to a report. The number of rejected asylum seekers and migrants who cannot be deported as they lack the necessary travel documents has increased by 71 percent, to 65,000 in 2017 from …

26 March

Egyptians vote in lack-lustre presidential election

Polls have opened in Egypt for a presidential election in which voters will choose between the current president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, and a little-known challenger. Some 60 million people are eligible to vote. Polls opened on Monday morning in Egypt for a three-day vote where President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is virtually guaranteed to win his second term. El-Sissi voted in Cairo just …

26 March

Sierra Leone: Court halts presidential run-off, opposition cries foul

Uncertainty clouds Sierra Leone’s presidential election run-off, scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, as different institutions offer conflicting statements as to whether it will be held or not. In a controversial ruling issued on Saturday (24 March), a high court in Freetown restrained the National Electoral Commission (NEC) and its chair from organizing the polls pending hearing of the case before …

24 March

Germany: One in two rejected asylum seekers win appeal in court

Rejected asylum seekers in Germany almost always challenge the decision in court, and around 40 percent of them win. The number of such appeals nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017. Nearly half of all rejected asylum seekers win their challenge against the decision, according to a report published Friday (23 March). Over 328,000 asylum seekers appealed the decision to deny …

23 March

Angela Merkel stresses migrants, Islam in first Bundestag address of new government

In the first major speech of her new term, German Chancellor Angela Merkel struck a conciliatory tone on immigration while offering an inclusive message on Islam. “Germany can do it,” she said, and “we are all Germany.” Jefferson Chase reports. Wednesday 21 March was the first time Angela Merkel addressed the Bundestag after the unprecedentedly long and difficult process of …

23 March

Germany: Plan for one-stop processing centres for asylum-seeker unveiled

Asylum-seekers arriving in Germany are to be sent to centres where they will stay until their application is decided, under a plan by the new coalition government. The move is intended to make the process more efficient, but critics are worried that vulnerable and traumatized people may be put at increased risk. The plan to establish all-in-one processing centres for …

TimeLine Layout

March, 2018