Migration & Integration

Registration for participation in the African Youth Education Awards (AYEA) 2022 has been flagged off by its organisers. Every year, young people who have excelled in their educational and training careers are honoured with AYEA at a colourful ceremony in Hamburg. AYEA, an initiative to promote higher educational achievements among youth in African-origin communities in Germany, started in 2010. The …

Chancellor Olaf Scholz has announced that he wanted to end all restrictions to multiple nationality in the country’s citizenship law. Speaking at an event to mark the tenth anniversary of the scholarship and mentoring programme GEH DEINEN WEG (Go your way) of the Deutschlandstiftung Integration (German Foundation for Integration) in Berlin on Monday, he said 50 per cent of naturalisations …

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, more than 600,000 Ukrainians and people of other nationalities resident in the country have entered Germany to seek refuge. Among the refugees are Africans, most of whom are students. Africans fleeing the war have been reportedly discriminated against while crossing the country’s borders into safety. Beyond their unsavoury …

Against the background of the difficult situation of non-Ukrainian nationals from Ukraine who were displaced by the war in the country and are currently seeking refuge in Germany, refugee, rights and diaspora support groups have issued an open letter to the Federal Interior Minister, demanding that all refugees from Ukraine should be treated equally. —— OPEN LETTER On the occasion …

Until now, refugees from Ukraine have been able to use public transport in cities and towns across Germany without a ticket. This regulation expires on 31 May 2022. Refugees from Ukraine therefore require a ticket when travelling on public transport from 1 June. An affordable alternative is the 9-Euro Ticket, which entitles holders to travel on public transport (regular buses, …

Ukrainian refugees are entitled to regular social benefits as from 1 June, according to a law passed the Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the German federal parliament —— Refugees from Ukraine will be entitled to regular social benefits such as Hartz IV from June onwards. The Bundesrat approved a corresponding law on Friday (20 May), which implements an agreement between …

Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February, more than 4 million Ukrainians and people of other nationalities resident in the country have fled to other European countries. According to the German government, more than 400,000 of the displaced are currently in Germany to seek refuge – among these are thousands of Africans. While the legal …

ANNOUNCEMENT The extraordinary seminar programme offered by the State of Berlin on the topic of start-ups and self-employment for people with a migration background interested in starting a business begins a new round in May! For exactly 20 years, the state of Berlin has been strengthening and honouring the economic growth and cultural diversity of Berlin’s start-ups and has been running the …

A group supporting African war refugees from Ukraine who are currently seeking refuge in Germany will hold two information sessions in May. The virtual events, ‘Information Session on Studying in Germany’ and ‘Legal Advice for Africans from Ukraine’, are organised by Help for Africans from Ukraine in Germany (HAUG) to provide orientation guide for the refugees. ‘Information Session on Studying …

The first beneficiaries of the new Hamburg regulation for third country students from Ukraine received their Fiktionsbescheinigung (Transitional Residence Permit) yesterday. A Fiktionsbescheinigung is issued if a decision has not yet been taken on an applied-for residence title or if the decision could not yet be taken. It is therefore a provisional right to stay in Germany. As we reported last week, …

Students fleeing the war in Ukraine should be able to continue their studies in Hamburg even if they come from a third country, the city’s authorities have now decided. Hamburg, one of Germany’s 16 federal states, now issues a 6-month provisional residency right to non-Ukrainian students from Ukraine. Speaking in an interview with Hamburg Journal, a spokesperson of the city, …

The edict allowing people fleeing the war in Ukraine to enter Germany without a visa and reside in the country without a permit has been extended. The Ukraine Residence Transition Ordinance (UkraineAufenthÜV), issued by the Federal Ministry of the Interior on 7 March 2022, is currently valid until 23 May 2022. An amendment** of the edict was approved by the …

The Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs (BMI) has launched a portal to provide information and orientation support to people seeking refuge in Germany from fleeing the war in Ukraine. “Germany4Ukraine.de is an information service for refugees from Ukraine. It provides them with a trustworthy, secure, digital contact point with the most important initial information after their arrival …

Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, speaking in the Bundestag (federal parliament) on Wednesday, said the registration of displaced persons from the war in Ukraine was currently being improved. Refugees who are admitted to initial reception centres are registered there. This should be further intensified, she said. As at Wednesday (16 March), the Federal Police had registered around 175,000 refugees from …

Germany has suffered defeat at the European Court of Justice over the detention of persons to be deported. The court ruled that would-be deportees should not be remanded in a place that could be described as a prison People who are to be deported may not be detained as if they were prisoners, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has …

Germany’s Federal Ministry of the Interior has published an edict on the temporary exemption of persons from Ukraine from the requirement of a residence permit due to the war in the country. The edict, dated 7 March 2022 and called Ukraine-Aufenthalts-Übergangsverordnung (Ukraine Transitional Residence Ordinance or UkraineAufenthÜV), allows Ukrainians and third country nationals resident in the country to enter and …

Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, has assured that Germany will accept all refugees from Ukraine regardless of their nationality. “We want to save lives. That does not depend on passport,” Faeser told the newspaper Bild am Sonntag, referring to the increasing number of people coming to Germany from Ukraine. Faeser said that the vast majority of the refugees …

NIDO Germany has successfully participated in the pilot phase of a project to integrate the organisation and returning experts into the advisory structure of the Nigerian-German Centre for Jobs, Migration and Reintegration (NGC) on regular migration. The NGC, run by the GIZ and which operates in Abuja, Benin-City and Lagos, provides advisory services to prospective migrants as well as conducts …

Maisha – African Women in Germany e.V. recently celebrated 25 years of its existence in Frankfurt. Maisha, which means “life” in Swahili, is a self-help organisation of African women in Germany founded in 1996 by Virginia Wangare Greiner. The occasion, attended by members as well as friends and partners of the organisation, was a milestone for self-organisation in the African …

More and more refugees are becoming successful in appealing against a negative asylum decision. In the vast majority of cases, they are granted protection status by the courts. The Left party complains about “political pressure” on the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. A growing number of refugees are successful in appealing against the rejection of their asylum application. In …