News

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 Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation Europe (NIDOE) holds a virtual conference on Saturday, 5 June 2021 on how to better engage the youth in national development. The event, with the theme “Diaspora Engagement Master-Class & Youth Inclusion”, will be addressed by, among others, Dr Bashir Obasekola, Chairman of NIDOE; Kingsley Aikins, CEO, Networking Institute Ireland; Andrew Nevin, Chief Economist, PwC …

NAIROBI, Kenya, 1 June 2021 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/- The African Ministers Council on Water (AMCOW) has appointed H.E Mrs Fatima Maada Bio, the First Lady of the Republic of Sierra Leone, as the Africa Champion for Sanitation and Hygiene. She was unveiled on 26th May 2021 at the State House, Sierra Leone, in the presence of the President of Sierra …

Ex-Wolves and Nigeria midfielder, Seyi Olofinjana, has been named technical director at Switzerland’s most successful club Grasshopper Zurich. The 40-year-old will oversee the football department at the newly-promoted Super League outfit and immediately find the right candidate to fill the ‘position of the head coach’ . The former Stoke City, Hull City and Cardiff City player was snapped from English …

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 …

Dr Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, Green Member of the European Parliament representing Germany, praises the appointment of Michaela Moua as the first Anti-Racism Coordinator at the European Commission, and what she expects from the history-making appointee ——- Cultural Diversity in the European Institutions The European Commission has appointed Michaela Moua as its first anti-racism coordinator. I am delighted that she has been …

The European Commission has appointed a former professional basketball player, Michaela Moua, as its first-ever Anti-Racism Co-ordinator, adding that the newly created post was in line with its anti-racism action plan. Ms Moua, a Finnish national of African origin, said she was “extremely excited about this opportunity to achieve real justice” in her reaction to the appointment, which was announced …

All Passport Issuing Centres have been directed to clear existing backlog of applications on or before 31st May, 2021. To this effect requests for Fresh and/or Reissue shall not be entertained with effect from 18th May 2021-31st May 2021 in all Centres except for locations in the Missions abroad. Notifications for collection of produced Passports are already going out to …

The European Union has spoken out in defence of Spain, after thousands of migrants from Morocco entered the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in north Africa. “Europe expresses its solidarity with Ceuta and Spain,” said European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen on Tuesday (18 May), in a tweet. At least 6,000 migrants, including mothers cradling children and whole families, reached …

The Comptroller-General of the Nigeria Immigration Service, Muhammed Babandede, on Tuesday said the turnaround time for issuance of passports is now six weeks. The service’s Public Relations Officer, Sunday James, disclosed this in a statement made available to journalists. James quoted Babandede as saying this at the NIS headquarters in Abuja during a media chat on Innovations and Administration for …

Ministry of Primary Education of the Republic of Cameroon will receive 1 mln licenses of Russian MyOffice software. The memorandum was signed during a business mission held in the country, which entailed a series of meetings at the highest state level —- MOSCOW, Russia, May 17, 2021/ — MyOffice, the Russian developer of office software for joint work on documents …

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 …

Achare Takor*, a lawyer, takes a look at Section 124b of the General Tax Code of the Republic of Cameroon and how it sets to promote innovative ICT start-ups in the country by offering them incentives ————- DOUALA, Cameroon, May 13, 2021/ — By Achare Takor Over the last decade, information technologies (IT) have revolutionized the way people and businesses …

The issue of accommodation provision for individuals seeking asylum within a country has recently been a topic heavily discussed in the field of immigration studies. In contribution to this, a new report by British Red Cross has highlighted how the UK asylum system is deeply flawed, and has caused increasingly negative impacts on the mental health of individuals seeking asylum. …

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has announced that Nigerians living abroad who have difficulties renewing their expired passport and want to travel home could do so with the document. Aregbesola said government was conscious of the difficulties Nigerians were experiencing with passport renewal due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it was committed to alleviating the situation. “It is …

Nigerians in the diaspora have an opportunity to own houses in the country and also participate actively in money and capital markets, thanks to several investment packages rolled out by Ecobank. Mrs. Olukorede Demola-Adeniyi, Head of Ecobank’s Consumer Banking, has said that the bank is offering mortgage loans to Nigerians living abroad to finance property ownership in the country. She …

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 …

Ayoba is enjoying a busy 2021, with many upgrades and additions planned to its extensive list of features. The African Messaging App celebrates second birthday with 5.5m users and launches voice and video calling as well as web access CAPE TOWN, South Africa, May 4, 2021/ — Ayoba (www.ayoba.me), the African messaging app, has announced the launch of a new …

By Prof Wim Naudé* Until COVID-19 hit, the quality of life of youth (age 15-24) in sub-Saharan Africa had been steadily improving. According to the World Bank, by 2019 the youth literacy rate stood at 73%. Gross secondary school enrolment rates increased from 13 % in 1971 to 43 % by 2018. Youth unemployment rates have remained fairly stable, at around …