Amira Muhammad is the "good soul" of meeting point "City North" in the German town of Essen. She came to Germany five years ago after her family had to flee Syria. Now, she volunteers to help other migrants and refugees navigate life in Germany. She organizes meet-ups or language sessions, and she's also a shoulder to cry on. For her commitment to helping others, her new home town awarded her the integration prize.
Germany's Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) says it has spent some €40 million on digital offerings to bridge the interruption of integration and language courses caused by COVID-19. According to BAMF, close to a quarter million migrants in Germany are currently having to pause their courses.
From cooking for grocery store workers to making masks for those in need, many newcomers to Germany are stepping in and helping others during the COVID-19 pandemic. The knowledge they bring from home is priceless.
The German public TV channel ARD has been running a series during the coronavirus pandemic called “Everyday heroes.” On Sunday it featured a Syrian family that wanted to give back to the country that took them in, “with their hearts and their hands.”
Germany’s interior minister, Horst Seehofer, has announced that the 47 unaccompanied children flown from the Greek islands to Germany in mid-April will leave quarantine soon. They will then be sent to several German states.
Academics during a web conference at the University of Duisburg-Essen on Wednesday said that the number of people, especially qualified academics and scientists, migrating from Turkey to Germany had risen in the last few years.
Unaccompanied minors made up 7% of all asylum applications in 2019, according to the EU's statistics office, Eurostat. The number, however, is about 20% down from applications filed the previous year.
A German florist in the small town of Furth, lower Bavaria, is campaigning to try and stop a Syrian girl, who hopes to become a full-time apprentice in the shop, being sent with her family back to Spain where they have protection status.
There have been several COVID-19 cases recorded in migrant homes across Germany. Three facilities in opposite parts of Germany are particularly affected.
Some states in Germany have put out a call for migrant doctors who are waiting for their qualifications to be recognized to sign up to work as helpers in the fight against COVID-19. InfoMigrants spoke to the State Chamber of Physicians of Saxony.
Refugee home director Katie Griggs is one of many people whose jobs have been made extra challenging by the pandemic. How do you protect a diverse community when its members all share bathrooms and kitchens?
COVID-19 is spreading in Germany's refugee homes and lockdown measures are causing havoc among people who are already traumatized. The authorities are still looking for ways to resolve the crisis.