The parliament of Saarland, one of Germany’s 16 federal states, has removed the term “race” from the list of possible grounds for discrimination in the state’s constitution. In future, Article 12 will instead state that no one may be disadvantaged or favoured “on the basis of racial attributions”. “Our constitution is modern, trend-setting and understandable. Today, we are ensuring that …

The Bundesrat, the upper chamber of the federal parliament, has approved two further components of the new migration policy of the governing federal coalition – the laws on faster naturalisation and deportations. The Bundesrat on Friday decided not to refer the citizenship law to the mediation committee. The new law, which was passed by the Bundestag in January, stipulates that …

Lagos has been ranked as the 19th best city to visit in the world, according to Time Out, a global magazine that publishes travel guides and magazines. Apart from Lagos, South Africa’s Cape Town (ranked second) and Ghana’s Accra (44th) were the only African cities that featured on the list, issued by the London-based publication. Time Out, which tags itself …

Almost 54,000 people have now received a residence permit through the right of residence programme (Chancen-Aufenthaltsrecht) introduced just over a year ago by the German government. The amnesty scheme opens up a path to a long-term right of residence for tolerated persons. According to a survey conducted by Mediendienst Integration Service, 75,345 people have applied for a residence permit to …

A new study has revealed the most affordable European countries in which to take out a personal loan, with Luxembourg claiming the top spot. Loan experts Lånea analyzed data from Trading Economics, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Numbeo to create an index of the European countries most affordable for those wanting to take out a personal …

The Head of the Education Department of the Council of Europe, Villano Qiriazi, unveiled inspiring insights into the European Qualifications Passport for Refugees (EQPR) at the UNHCR Global Refugee Forum held in Geneva. The event was dedicated to the sharing of best practices and achievements among national and international actors. The EQPR is a special international tool developed to assess …

At the Italy-Africa Summit, Rome promotes its plan to create jobs and opportunity in Africa and discourage its young people from making dangerous journeys across the Mediterranean Sea. Africa demands action instead of empty promises. Italy, which has just assumed the Presidency of the G7, has unveiled a €5.5 billion plan to support African development, which it hopes will stem …

At the beginning of the year, we informed you about the general changes that will affect people living in Germany in 2024. From February, some changes will come into effect that will affect many areas of life. We have summarised what exactly will change here: —- New regulation for co-payment for medications Anyone who takes a doctor’s prescription to the …

The unexpected withdrawal of Niger, Mali and Burkina Faso from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has stoked fears of an uncertain future for the regional bloc. In a joint statement on Sunday, the leaders of the three countries declared that they had made the “sovereign decision” to quit the organisation of 15 member countries. For months now, …

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has finalised plans to launch a self-service application system next month. The commission said the new system would allow Nigerians in the diaspora to seamlessly enrol for their National Identity Number (NIN), a set of eleven digits assigned to Nigerians of all ages and legal residents by the Nigerian government and issued and managed …