The Administrative Court of Würzburg has stopped the imminent deportation of the refugee Osaivbie Ekogiawe for the time being. A court spokesman said an urgent application had been successful. A medical certificate was used to prove that the 20-year-old from Nigeria was not fit to travel.
The case has been causing a stir in Lower Franconia for days. In addition to numerous supporters, the CDU mayor of Würzburg, Christian Schuchardt, spoke out against deporting the refugee on Monday. He calls on the immigration authorities responsible and the “political leaders” to “exhaust all legal options” – and to allow Ekogiawe to continue staying.
According to the Mayor of Würzburg, he was “not only integrated in his club, SV Heidingsfeld, but also in his hometown”. Ekogiawe has therefore “become a Würzburger”.
Ekogikawe came to Germany as an unaccompanied minor refugee in June 2018, and his application for asylum was rejected in 2020. In 2021 he graduated from high school and since September 2022 he has been training as a nurse in Würzburg. Last June he applied for a residence permit as a well-integrated young person or adolescent. According to the competent authority, however, his “toleration” has expired, and a first urgent application to the court was unsuccessful. His deportation should therefore be imminent.
For the Mayor of Würzburg, this is incomprehensible: “That’s exactly what we want and what we need: people who integrate, contribute to society and find a new home here,” explained Schuchardt. The mayor also criticized that he had no knowledge in advance “of the imminent deportation and the further proceedings”. In addition, the city as an authority was not informed how things would go on in concrete terms.
The state parliament SPD is calling on Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) to suspend all deportation measures until the state parliament has decided on a corresponding petition.