Thousands of rejected asylum seekers from Nigeria cannot be deported because their home country will not take them back. Chancellor Scholz has now campaigned for this in Lagos – and also for offers for returnees locally.
During his visit to Nigeria, Chancellor Olaf Scholz advocated the expansion of migration centers and insisted on the return of rejected asylum seekers. The migration centers were founded 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 in the Nigerian economic metropolis of Lagos. He spoke about this with Nigerian President Bola Tinubu.
In the past four years, the three institutions have supported 20,000 returnees in finding jobs and training positions. 4,000 of them came from Germany – some voluntarily, some were deported against their will.
Basic readiness in Nigeria
“We offer more legal ways than ever before to come to Germany to work,” emphasized Scholz at a business forum. With regard to the rejected asylum seekers, he said: “At the same time, those who cannot stay with us under these new regulations should be able to return to their home countries.” Collaboration in this area is more important than ever before.
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. So far, Nigeria has mostly not taken people back in these cases. The Nigerian authorities are currently not accepting replacement documents issued by Germany. That was also the topic of the conversation between Scholz and Tinabu.
At the joint press conference, he made some evasive comments: “We are ready to enter into a partnership to improve migration,” he said. They are prepared to take people back if they are compatriots and “as long as they have behaved well.”
The EU also wants one Migration agreement with Nigeria
The federal government wants to generally accelerate the deportation of rejected asylum seekers without a right of residence. To this end, the cabinet has decided on corresponding changes to the law. In addition, more return agreements should be concluded with countries of origin. Interior Ministry Nancy Faeser is also holding talks in Morocco this week.
Scholz welcomed the fact that the EU wants to conclude a migration agreement with Nigeria as soon as possible. He indicated that Germany is also striving for a bilateral agreement: “That will be the framework we need to take action,” he said about the planned EU treaty. Scholz is now flying on to Ghana – which is classified as a so-called safe country of origin in Germany.