Benjamin Bathke

Saleh Othman from Yemen arrived in Latvia in 2023 as an asylum seeker. InfoMigrants recently spoke with him there about his dream to live in Germany, the trials and tribulations of his eight-year journey, injustice – and how he wishes Europeans treated migrants.

Last year, German authorities sent more than 16,000 requests to Croatia to accept rejected asylum seekers who first got registered in Croatia. But only one in 50 of all planned deportations were actually carried out. This year, however, the number of deportations to other EU countries from Germany is on the rise.

Mauritanian police have reportedly arrested 125 Pakistani migrants who were trying to cross to Spain's Canary Islands. The northwestern African country has again become a crucial launchpad for migrants aiming for Europe.

The Islamist rebel offense has renewed violence and suffering in Syria. Some 50,000 people have been displaced inside the country and dozens of civilians died since fighting broke out last week. In the EU, the escalation is expected to affect discussions about deportations to Syria and taking in Syrian refugees.

The deportation of a Somali man from the German city of Bremen to Finland failed due to resistance from up to a hundred people in a church. Church and city officials then traded accusations. In recent months, church asylums have been repeatedly evicted by the authorities.

On January 7, 2005, Oury Jalloh, an asylum seeker from Sierra Leone, burned to death in a police cell in Dessau, Germany under circumstances that remain unexplained. Evidence suggests he was likely killed and then set alight. At the annual protest march, friends, family and activists commemorated his death and the deaths of the many other people who died in police custody in Germany and elsewhere.

British authorities have announced the arrest of three men suspected of smuggling migrants from Iraqi Kurdistan to Britain. The news coincides with Iraq and the UK signing a new deal on returning irregular migrants.

German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser has emphasized the vital role migrants play in society. Migration has become a contested issue ahead of next month's early federal elections.

French maritime authorities have rescued 99 migrants in the English Channel. The news comes on the heels of last week’s death of a Syrian migrant who was trying to reach the UK from France.

With snap federal elections slated for February 23, InfoMigrants takes a look at the election manifestos of Germany's top seven political parties in terms of migration. Today we look at the center-right CDU/CSU, which demands a "de facto immigration freeze".