Germany to deport 14,000 Nigerians to troubled economy

Germany is planning to deport 14,000 Nigerians back to the country that is plagued by unprecedented economic downturn.
A German public broadcaster ZDF, hinted that just under 14,000 Nigerian asylum seekers currently living in Germany are due to be returned. About 12,500 of them have ‘Duldung’ (tolerated) status because they have no identity papers.

A good number of the migrants had fled the country following economic challenges bedeviling the nation.

The situation has worsened in recent time with the inflation rate going up on a daily basis. It’s been a hell for the citizens back at home. Companies are folding up and people are losing their jobs. Cost of living is hitting the roof and those employed end up borrowing to augment their salaries at the end of every month.

According to a report by TradingEconomics, Nigeria’s annual inflation rate continued to accelerate to reach an over 18-year high of 26.7% in September 2023, up from August’s 25.8%, mainly attributed to second-round effects of the removal of a old petrol subsidy and the devaluation of the naira against the greenback on both the official and parallel markets. Prices of food, which is the most relevant in the CPI basket, jumped to 30.6% in September, the highest since August 2005, from 29.3% in the prior month, also linked to security issues in food-producing regions. Additional upward pressure came from other CPI items, including transportation (27.2% vs 27.1%); housing & utilities (22.5% vs 21.8%); and miscellaneous goods & services (21.9% vs 21.8%). The annual core inflation rate, which excludes farm produce, climbed further to 22.1% in September, quickening from 21.2% in August. On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose by 2.1% in September, following a 3.2% surge in the prior month. source: National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria.

This is the country that 14,000 migrants would be deported to by Germany.

Incidentally, the migrants are often returned penniless and without any support by the Nigerian government.

We, voiceforafricanmigrants.org which often monitors deportation from Germany has always reported that the migrants are always brought back in the most inhuman manner. They are cuffed even in the presence of their children like common criminals.

On return, the migrants are always bundled out of the airport and left without support by the government of Nigeria. They are stranded and often depend an organization like Refugee4Refugee to get get water and food and somewhere to put their head. They often have to beg sympathisers to call their relations with their phones. Some who come with health challenges have difficulties getting medical aid.

There was recently a case of a young man who came with an artificial eye from Germany but couldn’t get a place to fix it.

Another was the case of a woman who came few months ago with children who needed to undergo further operations in Germany but were deported. She was at crossroads over how to handle the children’s plight since she wasn’t working.

Before Germany will deport such number of Nigerians some who could have worse health challenges than those above, it is imperative that they provide them with necessary support that will enable them to start a new life. Monetary support shouldn’t be given to the government or the officials. The National Commission for Refugees in the country has not been able to manage the challenge of internally displaced persons across the country let alone adding 14,000 deportees to their burden. In fact, it would be alien to them because they haven’t been attending to deportees’ issues before now even though they claim to have skill acquisition centres for empowering deportees..

No mention will be made about NIDCOM, and other government agencies in the area of migration here. They are only efficient when it comes to clout chasing.

There is a serious need to rethink this deportation plan by Germany. Nigeria currently has more than enough economic challenges and there’s no need to add more. Nigeria seriously battles with security challenges and there is no need to bring in more people who would be idle and possibly worsen the situation. If Nigeria must accept the deportation, Germany must be prevailed upon to provide them with necessary support.