Migration & Integration

In 2024, German administrative courts granted fewer asylum-seekers’ appeals against decisions by the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF). According to government data cited by the German news agency dpa, only 18% of appeals succeeded, down from 24.4% in 2023 and 36.5% in 2022. This decline in the success rate of appeals suggests an improvement in BAMF’s decision-making, potentially …

YANA Berlin will relaunch its services to provide support for asylum-seekers and other new African migrants in the German capital on 1 April. The migrant advisory service, run by the nonprofit German-African Initiative for Development and Integration (GAIDI), operates under the motto “You Are Not Alone in Berlin” (YANA Berlin), offering guidance to ease integration. Supported for the first time …

Access to banking services is crucial for everyday life — whether for depositing and withdrawing money, making payments or receiving transfers. However, many African asylum-seekers and refugees in Germany struggle to open a bank account due to lack of proper information. What many do not know is that, by law, every person in Germany, including asylum-seekers, has the right to …

Under the auspices of the “We Can Do More” project, aimed at raising awareness of the challenges faced by African refugees in Berlin, a gathering of African associations, projects and initiatives took place on Sunday, 3 November 2024. The event, implemented by German-African Initiative for Development and Integration (GAIDI) gUG, a non-profit social organization, and supported by the German Foundation …

GAIDI gUG, a Berlin-based nonprofit social organisation, has announced the launch of “We Can Do More”, a new initiative aimed at mobilising African associations, organisations and initiatives in Berlin to support the integration of newcomers from African countries. Supported by the Deutsche Stiftung für Ehrenamt und Engagement (German Foundation for Volunteer Work and Civic Engagement), the project seeks to empower …

ANNOUNCEMENT An informative online session discussing the transition from tolerated stay (Duldung) to a secure legal right of residence in Germany will be held on Wednesday, 2 October 2024. Topics to be covered at the virtual event, titled “From Tolerated Stay to Right of Residence in Germany,” include the legal frameworks governing tolerated stay, options for regularizing one’s status and …

Following the knife attack in Solingen last Friday, the German government has announced new measures to enhance security in the country. These include tightening gun laws and cancelling benefits for certain asylum-seekers. The government plans to revoke state benefits for asylum-seekers who fall under the responsibility of another European country according to the Dublin Regulation and which has agreed to …

A project to support recent migrants from Africa in Berlin, including refugees and asylum-seekers as well as those displaced by the war in Ukraine, relaunches on 15 May. Implemented by German-African Initiative for Development and Integration gUG, a non-profit social organisation, YANA Berlin II (YANA for You are not alone in Berlin) assists the African migrants by providing them important …

Most people with a history of immigration living in Germany speak German at home in addition to their mother tongue. This was revealed by the Federal Statistical Office in its report, released on Tuesday, citing the results of the 2022 micro census. About 24 per cent of the approximately 20.2 million people with a history of immigration in Germany only …

No more cash for refugees, but a “credit balance” on a payment card. All federal states have now agreed that from the beginning of 2025, refugees and asylum-seekers throughout Germany are to receive their social benefits via a prepaid debit card and no longer as cash or by bank transfer. The new card will be a “debit card” with credit …

The Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the federal parliament, has approved two further components of the new migration policy of the governing federal coalition – the laws on faster naturalisation and deportations. The Bundesrat on Friday decided not to refer the citizenship law to the mediation committee. The new law, which was passed by the Bundestag in January, stipulates that …

Almost 54,000 people have now received a residence permit through the right of residence programme (Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht) introduced just over a year ago by the German government. The amnesty scheme opens up a path to a long-term right of residence for tolerated persons. According to a survey conducted by Mediendienst Integration Service, 75,345 people have applied for a residence permit to …

The Bundestag, Germany’s lower house of parliament, approved the new “Repatriation Improvement Act” (Rückführungsverbesserungsgesetz) on 18 January. The law provides for a significant tightening of deportation rules. Among other things, the maximum period of pre-deportation custody is to be extended from 10 to 28 days. The number of cases in which public prosecutors are to be involved in deportations from …

An umbrella organisation of Black organisations in Germany, tubman.network, has successful completed the implementation of its ‘Professionalisation-Strategy’ project, aimed at bolstering support for Black communities in Berlin’s district of Mitte. Supported by the District Office Berlin-Mitte, the project addressed crucial challenges such as housing, psychosocial support, employment, access to education, emergency relief, access to health-services with a focus on providing …

November 2023 brings some important changes not only for people living in Germany but also those aspiring to come and work in the country. Among other things, it will now be much easier for skilled workers to immigrate to Germany. Is your car insurance renewing on 1 January 2024? We have news for you! Also, we inform about this year’s …

A project to support recent migrants, including refugees and asylum seekers from Africa as well as Africans displaced by the war from Ukraine, has launched in Berlin. Implemented by GAIDI, a non-profit social organisation, YANA Berlin (for You are not alone in Berlin) assists the African migrants by providing them important information that facilitates their integration into society. The project, …

The German government has appointed a special representative on migration who is expected to negotiate with major origin countries of refugees in Germany. Joachim Stamp was named early March as Germany’s first-ever “Special representative of the federal government for migration agreements.” He’s been saddled with the responsibility of finding a solution to the about 250,000 rejected asylum-seekers who are tolerated …

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 …

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 …

The African Youth Education Awards (AYEA) 2022 marked its 10th anniversary on Saturday, 22 October, in Hamburg. The prestigious venue, a hall in the historic building housing the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Hamburg, was packed full of young people, their parents and guests, including diplomats, politicians, city officials and a vice-president of the German federal parliament (Bundestag), Aydan …