International

Germany returns over 7000 migrants to home countries in six months

Published

1 year ago

August 20, 2023

Germany returns over 7000 migrants to home countries in six months

Germany has stepped up the return of asylum seekers from Georgia, North Macedonia, Albania, Moldova and Serbia, whose applications were rejected. More migrants are returning home voluntarily too.

Deportation of failed asylum seekers increased by more than a quarter in the first six months of 2023, data from Germany’s Interior Ministry showed Saturday.

Some 7,861 people were removed from the country between January and June, a rise of 27% over the same period last year.

Of those deported, 1,664 were women, and 1,375 were minors.

The increase follows a fall in the number of people deported during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data was requested by the Socialist Left Party and published in the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung.

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European migrants returned to home countries

The statistics showed that most of the migrants were returned to Georgia, North Macedonia, Albania, Moldova and Serbia, their countries of origin. Many of the deportees — 2,473 people — were taken to the border with Austria.

The European Union’s Dublin rules on asylum state that claims should be handled by the first country a migrant or refugee lands in.

The number of people who left the country voluntarily also increased, with 4,892 people accepting federal funding to return to their home country, and 2,309 people receiving state or local funding.

Deportations are often shelved

The immigration authorities must carry out their deportation if there are no mitigating factors such as illness or other grounds for temporary suspension. However, these deportations often fail.

According to the Interior Ministry data, 520 deportation attempts had to be aborted in the first half of the year.

The most common reasons were resistance from those being ejected, refusal by pilots or airlines to carry the deportee, and refusal by the federal police to take them into custody.

By the end of June, 279,098 people failed asylum seekers who were required to leave were still living in Germany. Almost 225,000 of them had a Duldung (tolerated stay permit), which is sometimes offered despite their asylum application being rejected.

A report earlier this year also showed that thousands of deported migrants had sneaked back into the country.

The new data was criticized by Left Party migration policy spokeswoman Clara Bünger.

“All too often, this forces people back to places where they face war, extreme poverty, and hopelessness under the threat or use of violence. This is irresponsible,” Bünger told the EPD news agency.

Related Topics:deportations Germany Migrant

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International

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

Published

13 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

BEIRUT: Israeli strikes pounded a densely-populated part of the Lebanese capital and its southern suburbs on Tuesday, hours ahead of an anticipated announcement of a ceasefire ending hostilities between Israel and Lebanese armed group Hezbollah.

A strike on Beirut hit the Noueiri district with no evacuation warning and killed at least one person, Lebanon’s health ministry said in a preliminary toll.

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Minutes later, at least 10 Israeli strikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs. They began approximately 30 minutes after the Israeli military issued evacuation orders for 20 locations in the area, the largest such warning yet.

As the strikes were under way, Israel’s military spokesperson Avichay Adraee said the air force was conducting a “widespread attack” on Hezbollah targets across the city.

Israeli strikes pound central Beirut, suburbs

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International

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Published

14 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

President-elect Donald Trump

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

Former U.S. President Donald Trump has fiercely criticised the legal cases brought against him, calling them “empty and lawless”.

He accused Democrats of weaponising the judicial system to target him as a political opponent.

In a strongly worded statement, Trump alleged that over $100 million in taxpayer money had been wasted in what he described as a politically driven effort to undermine his influence.

“Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before,” he said, pointing to high-profile prosecutors, including Georgia’s Fani Willis and New York Attorney General Letitia James, as key figures in what he called a “political hijacking.”

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Trump also accused Willis of colluding with Nathan Wade, whom he described as “her lover” and lacking the experience to handle such cases.

He claimed Wade was paid “millions,” allegedly enabling lavish trips and cruises.

Letitia James, who is pursuing a civil fraud case against Trump, was also criticised.

Over $100m wasted, Trump mocks Democrats for targeting him

International

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

Published

14 hours ago

November 26, 2024

Trends Admin

US-based Nigerians get 30-year sentence over $3.5m romance scam

A United States federal jury sentenced two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, to 30 years in prison for scamming certain US citizens $3,500,000.

This was mentioned in a news statement made public on the US Department of Justice website on Monday.

According to the statement, the Nigerians, Ibekie and Aniukwu mislead their victims by informing them that they had received big inheritances that required payment to claim.

The couple would then ask their victims to transfer money, promising to refund them after the inheritances were claimed.

It also stated that the duo carried out romance scams by establishing romantic relationships with their victims and demanding them to send money after they had built trust in their victims.

It read, “An undercover law enforcement investigation has resulted in federal prison sentences for two Nigerian nationals residing in the Chicago suburbs who conducted online inheritance scams and other fraud schemes.

“Using aliases, Anthony Emeka Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu communicated with victims throughout the United States, convincing them they had received substantial inheritances and needed to send money to individuals associated with the defendants in order to claim it.

“In addition to the inheritance scam, the pair carried out an online romance scam that involved communicating with victims via social media and dating websites, building trust with the victims through a purported online romance, and convincing them to send money to a predetermined recipient. Aniukwu and Ibekie also orchestrated a ‘business email compromise’ scam that targeted corporate email accounts.

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“The fraud schemes were uncovered by a covert law enforcement investigation. The scams resulted in losses to victims of at least $3.5 million.”

According to the statement, after being arraigned on 14 charges, the duo pleaded guilty to their different alterations.

Following their guilty pleas, Ibekie was sentenced to 20 years in prison on Thursday, and Aniukwu was sentenced to 10 years in prison on November 8.

The statement continued, “A federal jury earlier this year convicted Ibekie, 59, of Oswego, Illinois, on all 14 counts of wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, making false statements to a bank, and passport fraud. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger on Thursday sentenced Ibekie to 20 years in federal prison.

“Aniukwu, 50, of Romeoville, Illinois, pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and money laundering charges. Judge Seeger on Nov. 8, 2024, sentenced Aniukwu to 10 years in prison.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Gosha, an accomplice of the Nigerians and a US citizen, is expected to be sentenced on December 18 after pleading guilty.

“A third defendant, Jennifer Gosha, 52, a U.S. citizen from Oak Park, Ill., pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agent. Gosha is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Seeger on December 18, 2024,” the statement concluded.