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More than 100,000 people requested asylum in France in 2017, a “historic” number and an increase of 17 per cent on the year before, according to the French Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons (OFPRA). In a statement on Monday, OFPRA director Pascal Brice said the figures show that “France is one of the top countries for …

After several days of public silence, tennis living legend Boris Becker has finally spoken up on the controversy surrounding AfD politician Jens Maier’s racist comment about his son. The member of the German parliament had attacked Noah Becker, calling him a “little half-negro” on Twitter over an interview in which the son of the former Wimbledon champion compared Berlin with …

Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn dropped a veritable bombshell last week, when he announced that political prisoners would be released and that a detention centre in the capital that had become notorious for torture would be closed. What made this all the more surprising was that the government had never before even acknowledged the existence of political prisoners (when dissidents …

Israel plans to deport thousands of African asylum seekers within the next three months. They have the choice of leaving for a third country or indefinite imprisonment in Israeli jails. The quit deadline fans fears among African migrants, reports Tania Kraemer. “It is a very scary moment and many people are simply in panic,” says Ghebrihiwet Tekle, a young Eritrean …

The Association of Black People in Germany (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland or ISD Bund e.V.) has condemned Jens Maier, a member of the far-right, anti-immigrant party Alternative for Germany (AfD), for his racist Twitter comment on Noah Becker (23), son of former tennis star Boris Becker. The member of the Bundestag or German parliament had attacked Noah Becker, calling …

The Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to France, Dr. Modupe Irele, has said that no fewer than 30,000 Nigerians are currently living in France. Irele told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that the number included Nigerians living in France as business owners, as well as those studying in various French educational institutions. “The …

Africa’s football governing body, the Confederation of African Football (CAF), has named Mohamed Salah of Egypt as the 2017 African Player of the year. The Liverpool star beat Sadio Mane of Senegal and Liverpool, and Gabon’s Pierre Emerick Aubameyang who plays for Dortmund. He takes over from Algeria’s Riyad Mahrez who won the 2016 edition in Abuja. Salah, who was …

A Federal Government of Nigeria’s special delegation, led by Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama, is currently in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, to deliberate with Libyan officials on the evacuation of Nigerians trapped in the country. The Head, Press and Public Relations of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP),  Josiah Emerole, said the delegation left the …

Mike Reichel, a leading member of the Black Community in Germany who died recently, will be honoured at a funeral service on 19 January in Berlin. Reichel (54), who tragically ended his own life in December 2017, was one of the pioneer members of the Initiative of Black People in Germany (Initiative Schwarze Menschen in Deutschland or ISD) and a co-founder …

The Ethiopian government will drop charges against political prisoners and close a notorious prison camp in a bid to ‘widen the democratic space for all.’ Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn says the move to release all political prisoners is critical for national dialogue. The unprecedented pardon is expected to apply to both convicted political prisoners and those currently facing court …

A recent study published by Science magazine has once again highlighted a potential connection between climate and migration, stressing how, by the end of this century, climate change could lead to a significant increase in asylum requests in Europe. According to a recent study carried out by two researchers from Columbia University and published by Science magazine, climate change will …

Israel has notified thousands of Africans who entered the country irregularly that they have three months to leave or face incarceration. The Population and Immigration Authority of Israel on Tuesday (2 January) issued a notice to about 40,000 refugees, most of them from Sudan and Eritrea, to leave the country. Those who leave by the end of March will be given …

Editors of the news agency IRIN* sketch out the gloomy-looking horizon in five African countries in the new year. Congo unravels You know the situation is bad when people start fleeing their homes, and it doesn’t get much worse than the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Here, violence in its eastern provinces has triggered the world’s worst displacement crisis – …

The Initiative in Memory of Oury Jalloh (Initiative zum Gedenken an Oury Jalloh) and its supporters will demonstrate for the thirteenth time in Dessau on Sunday to commemorate the death of Oury Jalloh, who died in police custody in the eastern German town on 7 January 2005. The memorial event, which takes place on Sunday, 7 January 2018, will also …

President Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea said a war was being organised against his regime, days after a government official announced the discovery of a “destabilisation attempt”. A “war” is being prepared “because they say I have spent a lot of time in power,” the president said on Saturday, without saying who he was referring to. Neighbouring Cameroon had …

There have been angry protests in Democratic Republic of Congo, calling for President Joseph Kabila’s resignation. Kabila has been in power since 2001. His second term in office officially ended in December 2016, but he is still there – refusing to leave. The UN Secretary-General has now waded into the crisis following deadly clashes in the capital, Kinshasa. Congolese protested …

The Federal Government of Nigeria has appointed local airlines to repatriate Nigerians stranded in Libya. Following the global outrage that greeted the CNN footage showing African migrants being auctioned as slaves in Libya last November, President Muhammadu Buhari vowed to bring back Nigerians still in the North African country. He thereafter constituted a 17-man fact-finding committee headed by Minister of …

In his first press conference since his election as president, George Weah has promised that he would not tolerate corruption in his government while his focus would be the transformation of the lives of the masses. Addressing journalists, his partisans and supporters at his first victory press conference held at the headquarters of the Coalition for Democratic Change (CDC) on …

Authorities in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea say they foiled an overnight attempt to overthrow the government of Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago – Africa’s longest serving leader. The attempt as reported by the French news portal Jeune Afrique took place overnight from Wednesday December 27 to Thursday December 28. Even though details of the incident are sketchy, there is said to be …

Early on the morning of Boxing Day (26 December), rescue workers spotted more than 130 migrants stranded in the Mediterranean, some 40 kilometres off the coast of Libya. They were sitting in three small dinghies, ill-equipped for the windy winter crossing, when they were finally picked up by Spanish NGO Proactiva Open Arms. Despite the efforts of African and European …