Africa trip
Scholz wants to expand migration centers in Nigeria
Chancellor Olaf Scholz flew to Lagos for talks with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu. photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
“We finally have to deport people on a large scale.” With this sentence, Chancellor Scholz caused a sensation. In Nigeria he shows that for him this is only one side of the coin when it comes to migration.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has… Nigeria pushed for the expansion of migration centers that were set up to support returnees from Germany and other countries.
In the future, the facilities will also be responsible for advising skilled workers who want to emigrate to Germany. “This requires some preparation and investment – on both sides,” said the Chancellor. He spoke about this with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu on Sunday.
After his talks, Scholz was also confident that the desired acceleration of deportations to Nigeria will be successful. The main aim is to determine the identity of refugees who are in Germany without identification documents.
“I have now learned that this will be successful,” said Scholz, referring to his conversation with Tinubu. “The words to me were very clear.” He is now seeking concrete agreements with Nigeria on this.
Migration centers have already looked after 20,000 returnees
There are currently three migration centers in Nigeria where 20,000 returnees have been supported in finding jobs and training opportunities over the last four years. 4,000 of them came from Germany – some voluntarily, some were deported against their will.
Scholz met some of them on Monday in the center in the coastal metropolis of Lagos, one of the largest cities in the world with 20 million inhabitants. Women and men who came via Libya and the Mediterranean to Italy and then on to Germany. A woman returned after five years because she could not bring her daughter with her. Another was in Munich for ten years and today says she is proud to be back in Nigeria. “I’m not even thinking about going back to Germany.”
Scholz later called the visit “very encouraging” because it allowed him to see how small steps could be taken to make progress.
Many people forced to leave the country without papers
For years, Nigeria was one of the ten main countries of origin for asylum seekers in Germany. This has no longer been the case since last year, but more than 1,800 initial asylum applications were made by Nigerians this year. However, the recognition rate is comparatively low. Almost 14,000 people from Nigeria are considered obliged to leave the country. Of these, around 12,500 are tolerated, largely because they have no identification documents.
Establishing identity is the main problem in repatriation. The cooperation of the countries of origin is required. After his meeting with Scholz, Nigerian President Tinubu was fundamentally open to taking back refugees. When asked what he expected in return, he said at a joint press conference: “I’m not making any demands.” If they are Nigerians, they are welcome home.
Scholz wants to speed up deportations
Scholz has decided to speed up the return. In a “Spiegel” interview he recently announced: “We finally have to deport people on a large scale.” He sees agreements with the countries of origin as the key, which make repatriation easier but at the same time promote the recruitment of skilled workers. “Bringing the two together is actually the model of the future.”
Support for Nigeria’s G20 ambitions
Scholz supported Nigeria’s demand for membership in the G20 group of states. “It is also right that a country as large as Nigeria, which is the largest economy in Africa, rightly warns that it has to be included somehow,” said Scholz. It was good progress that the African Union (AU) was included in the group of the most important economic powers. But it couldn’t stay that way.
At the summit in New Delhi in September, the G20 grew for the first time since its founding in 1999. The group of states agreed to include the AU as a second regional organization alongside the European Union. To date, South Africa is the only African state to belong to the G20. However, it has a lower economic power and significantly fewer inhabitants than Nigeria. With 220 million inhabitants, Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa and also the largest economy.
“It is quite obvious that the current situation is not reasonable,” said Scholz. He also complained about the imbalance in the UN Security Council, in which no African or Latin American country is permanently represented. A reform of the body has been discussed for decades, but it is not yet in sight.