February, 2017

• 26 February

  Twenty million people at risk of starvation in northeastern Nigeria, South Sudan, Somalia

  More than 20 million people are at risk of dying from starvation within six months in four separate famines, the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. Conflicts in Yemen, northeastern Nigeria and South Sudan have devastated households and driven up food prices while a drought in Somalia has ruined the agricultural economy, the global organisation said. In Yemen and South …

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• 26 February

  German prize awarded to Kenyan team for developing innovative healthcare financing scheme

  Almost half of all Kenyans can’t afford to consult a doctor when they fall sick. A team of young Kenyan IT specialists came up with a prize-winning plan to change that, reports Daniel Pelz. Ethredah Chao had just 72 hours to find a solution to one of Kenya’s biggest problems. “Almost half of the Kenyan population lives below the poverty …

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• 25 February

  Germany: Telephone hotline for asylum-seekers willing to return home launched

  The Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (Bundesamt für Migration und Flüchtlinge or BAMF) has set up telephone counselling service for refugees and asylum-seekers who are willing to voluntarily return to their home countries. The call centre service is offered in English and German. According to the BAMF, asylum-seekers, refugee aid organisations, public institutions and volunteers can use the counselling …

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• 24 February

  Nigeria: Kidnappers of Germans demand ransom payment

  The gunmen who abducted German archaeologist, Prof. Peter Breunij, and his associate, Johannes Buringer, in Jenjela village in Kagarko Local Government of Kaduna State, have demanded N60m (180,000 euros, official rate) as ransom. The kidnappers, according to a source at Jenjela village, said the abductors called the line of the camp supervisor around 11.00 am and demanded N30m ransom for …

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• 24 February

  Germany unveils new national passport

  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 …

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• 23 February

  ‘It’s no paradise’: Switzerland funds Nigerian TV series to discourage migrants from coming

  “We have seen that a lack of information or false information is one of the main problems that leads to illegal migration.”

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• 22 February

  Germany: More facts emerge about Nigerian suspected of killing woman in Ahaus

  “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, …

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• 21 February

  No justification to deport 12,000 Nigerians from Germany, says Kenneth Gbandi, chair of NIDOE

  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.

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• 20 February

  Full Speech: My Vision for The Gambia, by President Adama Barrow

  Gambia’s new president, Adama Barrow, unveiled the key programmes of his government at the country’s 52nd independence anniversary celebrations on Saturday. Mr Barrow, 52, who was elected in last December’s election, was also sworn-in as Gambia’s third president at the event, attended by thousands of citizens and graced by foreign guests, including several African heads of states. Below is the …

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• 20 February

  German migration office to tap asylum-seekers’ mobile phones to determine their true identity

  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 …

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