The Opportunity Residence Act (“Chancenaufenthaltsgesetz”) comes into force on 1 January 2023. Tolerated persons in Germany who had been living in Germany for five years or more on the cut-off date of 1 October 2022 are to receive a residence permit “on probation”. Tolerated persons are people who are obliged to leave the country but are allowed to stay temporarily …

By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube A migrant’s personal story of return, resolution, and resilience Tübingen – It’s a warm summer day in 2021. Musa Coker sits in the office of his return counsellor. He has visited the small office in Southwest Germany multiple times this year, seeking information, advice …

By loading the video, you agree to YouTube’s privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube If you’re thinking of returning to your country of origin but have questions about what life is like in the country or what support you can receive once you’ve gone back, virtual counselling may provide you with the help you need. Virtual Counselling is …

BonelliErede, a leading international law firm, and Italia Africa Business Week (IABW), a commercial and business forum whose goal is to facilitate sharing economic, commercial and financial knowledge between Africa and Italy, recently held a webinar on the restitution of cultural property to African states. It was the latest in a series of webinars organised by BonelliErede and focused on: …

Only with permanent immigration of around 400,000 people per year, could the population in Germany grow to 90 million inhabitants by 2070, according to a new report by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis). Germany currently has 84 million inhabitants. The report is the result of the 15th coordinated population projection by Destatis, which was presented in Berlin recently. The statisticians …

By Kestér Kenn Klomegâh, Special Correspondent US President Joe Biden holds an African leaders’ gathering in Washington as a further major step to strengthen geopolitical dialogue and multifaceted relations between the United States and Africa. As the White House gears up for the African Leaders Summit, holding on 13-15 December, several reports indicate that a few African countries might not …

Nigeria has relaxed the COVID-19 safety measures and travel advisory, including the suspension of all pre-departure, pre-boarding, and post-arrival PCR test requirements. Making the announcement on Monday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and Chairman of the Presidential Steering Committee on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, said the decision was based on the sustained reduction in COVID-19 infection/transmission internationally and …

The citizen’s income (Bürgergeld) will be introduced in Germany in January. The Bundesrat, the upper house of the federal parliament, approved the social reform legislation on 25 November after the lower house, the Bundestag, had earlier passed it. The Bürgergeld, which will replace the basic income support for job-seekers (Hartz IV) that was introduced in 2005, is a basic allowance …

The German parliament, the Bundestag, passed amendments to the residence and asylum laws on 4 December. The governing coalition calls the two laws passed the first phase of its plans to reform the country’s migration laws. One of the new laws, named “opportunity for right to stay” (Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht), which enters into force on 1 January 2023, provides for the grant …

As Nigerians prepare to elect a new president come 25 February, Anthony Ekene Onwuka, a Germany-based lawyer and international project consultant, makes his case for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former vice president and candidate of the main opposition People’s Democratic party (PDP), in this opinion piece —- On 25 February 2023, Nigerians enfeebled by economic woes of almost eight years …

After years of protests led by the Black community and their White German allies, a square and a street in the African Quarter in Berlin-Wedding were renamed on Friday. Both had bore the names of German officials who were in the forefront of Germany’s colonisation of East Africa in the 1880s and 1890s, often employing brutal military force. The former …

A football tournament, staged by a group supporting Africans displaced by the war in Ukraine who are currently in Germany, kicks off on Saturday, 3 December. The Indoor Soccer tournament is one of the activities currently being implemented by Horizon Resource network under the auspices of the Help for Africans from Ukraine in Germany (HAUG) initiative to support Africans from …

The year 2022 is drawing to a close, but it still brings some changes with it in December. Among other things, gas and district heating customers will receive relief payments, the winter timetable of Deutsche Bahn will commence and the ban on fire crackers ends. Here’s an overview of new laws and regulations that will come into force. —— More …

According to a ruling of Germany’s highest court on constitutional matters, the reduction of benefits for single adult asylum-seekers in group accommodation facilities is unconstitutional. The regulation, according to which asylum-seekers living in group accommodation receive ten per cent less benefits than refugees living in flats, violates the basic right to be guaranteed a minimum subsistence level worthy of human …

More than 50,000 people have died on global migration routes since 2014, , according to a new report published by the UN’s International Organisation for Migration (IOM) on 23 November. Despite the increasing loss of life, little action has been taken by governments in countries of origin, transit, and destination to address the ongoing global crisis of missing migrants, the …

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, a member of the European Parliament representing Germany on the platform of the Greens, writes on the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the European Parliament which took place on 22 November in the French city of Strasbourg —– Genesis of the European ParliamentThe European Parliament celebrated its 70th anniversary on 22 November in Strasbourg in the …

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has spoken out in favour of reforming Germany’s citizenship law. The country needs “better regulations” for naturalisation, the SPD politician said in his video message “Kanzler kompakt”. People who have come to Germany in the past decades have contributed greatly to making the German economy so strong, Scholz said. “Some have lived here for a very, very …

Chancellor Olaf Scholz presented the German Africa Award to bioinformatician Prof. Tulio de Oliveira of Stellenbosch University, South Africa, and virologist Dr. Sikhulile Moyo of the Botswana Harvard AIDS Institute Partnership at the Allianz Forum in Berlin on Friday evening, 25 November 2022. The award not only recognises the personal achievements of Prof. de Oliveira and Dr. Moyo, who have …

The Sierra Leone Community Berlin Brandenburg e.V. (SLCBB) has launched a fundraising campaign for a community centre in the federal capital. According to the chairperson of the SLCBB, Daphne Decker-Hora, the association is seeking to acquire a 50 square metres (m2) property in Berlin that will function as a meeting point for Sierra Leoneans and their friends as well as …

In its efforts to bring African associations as well as Christian and Muslim organisations together, The African Network of Germany (TANG) convened its first network meeting on Sunday 20 November 2022. The event, attended by 22 participants who represented 15 groups, took place in the expansive office of TANG in the federal capital. In his welcome address, Femi Awoniyi, the …