Germany

The analysis of refugees’ mobile phone data to ascertain their identity violates their fundamental rights. This was the decision of the Berlin Administrative Court while ruling in the case of a 44-year-old Afghan woman. The verdict puts a question mark on the controversial practice to which the authorities sometimes resort to establish the true identity of asylum-seekers —- The controversial …

The Nigerian community is in shock over the gruesome, cold-blooded killing of Hamburg-based Oguchi Unachukwu while visiting his home country. According to Nigerian press reports and the accounts of his relations in Nigeria, Mr Unachukwu was shot by a soldier in Owerri, Imo State, on Monday. The Nigerian, who was on his way to the Owerri airport to catch his …

The number of naturalisations in Germany declined significantly last year. Around 109,900 foreigners took German citizenship in 2020, as the Federal Statistical Office announced in Wiesbaden recently. That is a decline of 19,000 cases (minus 19 per cent). The decline is to a large extent due to the reduced naturalisation of Britons. At the same time, the number of Syrians …

Every month there are new laws and other legal changes. June 2021 is no different. Whether it’s about the coronavirus vaccination, VAT increase, government subsidies for businesses and self-employed persons, the digital vaccination certificate, your Microsoft account or even travelling with the ICE, we have all the important changes for you here: Prioritisation for vaccinationFrom 7 June, there will no …

It has been observed that Africans are less likely to start their own businesses compared to other diaspora communities, such as Asians. A new initiative wants to change the situation by mentoring aspiring African entrepreneurs in Germany, providing them not only knowledge and skills training but also networking opportunities Deutsch Connect, a German-based Afrocentric startup that links African businesses to …

One year after the police killing of George Floyd, sparking worldwide protests against racist violence, the spokesman of the Initiative Black People in Germany accuses German authorities and politicians of neglecting racist police violence in the country. Speaking in an interview on Deutschlandfunk radio on Tuesday, Tahir Della complaint about the concealment of racist police violence in Germany. Police violence …

The commission set up by the federal government to look into the causes of flight and irregular migration has presented its report, recommending 15 key measures for the effective mitigation of these causes. —– An Expert Commission on the Causes of Flight appointed by the Federal Government in July 2019 has called for a more comprehensive political approach to combating …

For the fourth time the MEDIENDIENST INTEGRATION conducted a research on diversity in the German police forces. Over the past years an increasing number of young people with an immigration background joined the police – partly due to successful recruitment-campaigns. By Fabio Ghelli Among the 46.500 employees of the German Federal Police (Bundespolizei) only 1,600 declare to have an immigration …

German-based Afrocentric startup Deutsch Connect has secured a €100,000 investment fund in partnership with Idea Seed Africa. The “Deutsch – Africa Pitch” challenge is exclusively for Startups within the Deutsch Connect – Idea Seed Africa network in Agritech, Healthtech, Fintech, Digitalisation and Logistics offering up to €100,000 in equity investment to build and scale successful businesses that add value to …

New entry regulations that make life easier for travellers entered into force on Thursday. The new regulation is the most far-reaching relaxation of rules for arriving passengers since the beginning of the pandemic in Germany last year. The federal cabinet passed the new rules, which are also intended to standardise the regulations of individual federal states and make travelling within …

The term “race” will remain in the Basic Law for the time being. The plan to delete the controversial word from the German constitution is being blocked by the CDU/CSU parliamentary group, Federal Justice Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) announced in Berlin on Monday. Contrary to initial plans, the federal cabinet should have approved the deletion on Wednesday, but it was …

A German privacy regulator banned Facebook on Tuesday from gathering data on WhatsApp users, citing an update to its privacy policy that breaches EU data protection rules by allowing access to a lot more information on the messenger app’s users. The Hamburg data protection officer (Landesdatenschutzbeauftragter), Johannes Caspar, wants to ensure by order that no data from the chat service …

An alliance of humanitarian and rights organisations are calling for the abrogation of the legal obligation to report people without residency status who seek medical care —– Almost 50 organisations and associations are demanding the abolition of the legal obligation to report people without regular residence status who seek medical care. Going to the doctor without fear is not possible …

As from Sunday, the Corona restrictions for fully vaccinated and recovered people will be relaxed. After the Bundestag, the Bundesrat has also approved the new regulation. Here’s an overview of the new regulation. ——— The Bundesrat, the upper house of the federal parliament, on Friday approved a new regulation of the Federal Government that contains relaxations of protective measures against …

Like at the beginning of every month, new legal changes enter into effect in May 2021. Among these are a one-time supplement to the child benefit, more protection for minors online, increased wages for painters, new labelling rules for tyres and new terms and conditions for WhatsApp users. Femi Awoniyi reports ——— 150-euro extra child bonus The disruptions of normal …

Chancellor Angela Merkel has been awarded the European Civil Rights Prize of the Sinti and Roma for her advocacy against antiziganism. “We must outlaw antiziganism just as we outlaw anti-Semitism,” Romani Rose, chairman of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, said in his address at a ceremony which took place in Mannheim on Wednesday. He pointed to the …

The so-called rent cap has been in force in Berlin for more than a year. Now the Federal Constitutional Court Bundesverfassungsgericht has overturned the controversial law causing apprehensions for tenants in Germany’s biggest city The Federal Constitutional Court has declared Berlin’s rent cap null and void. According to the decision of the Karlsruhe-based highest court on constitutional matters, Berlin was …

Most people carry their identity card (Personalausweis) in their wallet at all times. After all, it is an identity document that must be shown both when demanded by the police and when collecting items from the post office or making payments by credit card. But does this also mean that you must always carry the ID with you? In Germany, …

Integration Senator Breitenbach wants people with a migration background to be better represented in the civil service. She proposes a migrant quota of 35 per cent in public administration. ———- Berlin’s Integration Senator Elke Breitenbach, a member of the Left party, wants more people with a migration background to work in the civil service. A new draft law provides for …

Like at the beginning of every month, new legal changes enter into effect in April 2021, affecting, for example, income support for self-employed persons, short-time work benefits, driving licence and minimum wage for care workers, among others.Here’s what you should know: ——— Simplified access to basic income support extendedDue to the ongoing economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the federal …