About 14,000 Nigerians in Germany are at risk of deportation and the majority of them lack identification cards, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has noted, during a meeting with the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu.
Scholz has expressed his concerns about the growing number of Nigerians coming to Germany to seek asylum. The Chancellor pointed out that currently, about 12,500 Nigerian nationals are in a condition of tolerance since the government of Nigeria hesitates to admit them without identifying documents.
The condition of tolerance, also known as “Duldung,” is a temporary document that allows asylum seekers to stay in Germany for a limited period. While individuals with a tolerated stay permit can legally remain in Germany during this period, the obligation to depart the country still applies.
The current spike in Nigerians filing initial asylum claims in 2023 has sparked worries. Nearly 14,000 Nigerians might be deported, and the great majority of them do not have the necessary identification cards.
On the other hand, the President of Nigeria, Bola Tinubu, has shown willingness to allow Nigerian asylum seekers to return, as long as they are compatriots and have acted appropriately, in order to improve the migration situation.
In this regard, last month the German Cabinet approved a draft legislation to ease and speed up the deportation process for people whose asylum request was denied.
The law comes at a time when Germany is facing an increased wave of irregular migration. As reported in September, a total of 3.26 million people were registered in Germany’s Central Register of Foreigners, which is 111,000 more than at the beginning of the year.
According to the Federal Statistical Office of Germany (Destatis), Germany’s current population is about 84.5 million. Of those, approximately 72 million are German, while approximately 12.6 million are foreigners.
In March 2023, Destatis revealed that more than three million people were registered seeking protection in the Central Register of Foreigners at the end of 2022. Of those, 1.01 million were Ukrainian nationals seeking safe shelter from the consequences of the Russian war of aggression.
In addition, German Police have revealed that during September 2023, more than 21,366 irregular migrants entered Germany. This marks the highest number since February 2016.
