LIVING IN GERMANY

The victims of the racist terrorist attack three years ago were remembered in Hanau on Sunday. At noon, around 500 representatives from politics, civil society and religious communities gathered at the market square for a memorial service. Federal Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser (SPD), the Chairwoman of the Evangelical Church in Germany, Annette Kurschus, and Hesse’s Prime Minister Boris …

A 16-year-old Senegalese boy was shot last year in the course of a police operation in Dortmund. Five police officers have now been charged to court over the tragic incident, which sparked protests in the African community. One officer is accused of manslaughter, three of dangerous bodily harm and another of incitement to dangerous bodily harm, as Dortmund senior public …

Dr Sylvie Nantcha, chairman of The African Network of Germany (TANG), has called for an improved recording of the numbers of politically motivated attacks against Black people in Germany. She made the plea during the official presentation of the first situation report on Racism in Germany in Berlin recently. The event, which took place at the office of the chancellor …

A university teacher has taken the government of Berlin, one of Germany’s 16 federal states, to court over what he describes as “racist mistreatment at the Immigration office Berlin”. The case, filed by Mbolo Yufanyi Movuh, a lecturer at the Alice Salomon University of Applied Sciences (ASH), Berlin, will be heard on Thursday (9 February) at the Berlin District Court, …

Like almost every new month, February 2023 brings some important changes, including new laws, for people living in Germany. For example, no more compulsory masks on long-distance trains, more drinking fountains in public spaces and 16-year olds will also be allowed to vote in the European Parliament elections in Germany in future. These and other regulations come into force in …

Germany’s Minister of the Interior, Nancy Faeser, has called for quick sentences of perpetrators of the New Year’s Eve riots in several German cities, including Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Dortmund and Essen. During a visit to a fire station in the Berlin district of Neukölln on Friday, Ms Faeser said juvenile offenders should immediately feel a quick legal consequence of their …

2023 brings new laws and regulations for people living in Germany. For example, price brakes are to reduce energy costs, health insurance will become more expensive and the 49-euro ticket will be launched. These and other changes at a glance. ——– Price brakes for electricity, gas and district heatingFrom 1 March – retroactive to 1 January – the Federal Government’s …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

The Honourable Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of Nigeria, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, will be honoured on Saturday (19 November) in Berlin, Germany. The FCT comprises the city of Abuja and its satellite towns. The Award/Gala Night, at which the 52-year-old minister will be bestowed with an award for excellence in public service, will take place …

The first Network Meeting of African social, cultural, development, national and religious organisations in Berlin takes place on Sunday, 20 November 2022. Convened by The African Network of Germany TANG e.V., the meeting is to bring African organisations together to get to know each other and collectively identify the needs of their community and deliberate on how to address these …

The German Africa Foundation (DAS) honours the scientists for their personal achievements in the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic and as representatives of a highly educated, transnational research community that is at the forefront of medical research not only in Africa but also internationally.

Like every month, November 2022 brings some important changes for people living in Germany. Here’s an overview of what the new month brings —– Sales tax on gas reduced Rising energy prices have already become a major burden for many citizens. For this reason, the federal government is temporarily reducing the VAT rate on the supply of gas. This will …