Germany: Four Nigerian siblings deported despite being integrated into society

Published on : 2023/07/26

By Benjamin Bathke

After close to a decade of living in Germany, four siblings aged between 11 and 17 were deported to their home country Nigeria in May. Their return forms part of a trend of more and more minors being deported from Germany in recent months.

A tennis racquet, a pair of soccer cleats, a bible, a pencil case -- personal items like these are all that's left of the Ovbiagele family's life in Germany.

Before their belongings were placed into a storage unit in May, police forcibly entered the apartment of Godsand, Victor, Miracolo, Victoria and their mother Bose in southern Germany on the evening of May 15.

"The police officers came into my room at night and woke me up," 11-year-old Godsand is quoted as saying in a recent article published in German news magazine Spiegel.

"I was shaking. They said: 'You will be deported. Pack your things, but only what you can manage.' We weren't allowed to talk to mommy. We were afraid. I heard Victoria cry in her room."

The next morning, the family of five found itself on a chartered flight which took them back to Nigeria from Frankfurt airport. There were 35 other deportees on board, who had been living in Austria, Luxembourg, Sweden and Germany.

Also among the passengers in the coordinated group deportation flight were a number of alleged criminals, who were seen to be chained on their hands and feet.

Reluctant new beginnings in Nigeria

Different people have tried to provide support to the Ovbiagele family since their sudden deportation; one of them is Rex Osa, a native of Nigeria who has been living in Germany for 18 years.

The refugee aid worker was waiting for the four siblings and their mother in Lagos when their plane touched down there, who described their situation as "catastrophic."

The family have since moved into a small room in Benin City, Bose Ovbiagele's hometown, with the help of Osa. However, this is only a temporary solution.

According to the Spiegel, the city of 1.5 million people is notorious for being a center of human trafficking and forced prostitution and is considered to be one of the most dangerous places in Nigeria.

The children's mother agrees with that assessment: she says she had left for Europe seeing no future for her children in Nigeria. She has been raising them on her own since her first husband died and since she separated from the second one.

Despite these many challenges in life, the siblings are now trying to start again in an unfamiliar place 4,600 kilometers away.

"I don't know if I can find friends here," 14-year-old Miracolo explains. "I don't feel safe here. There are people stealing and kidnapping people; they have guns, too."

Uncertainty for the future
For almost nine years, the family called Kempten their home -- a city located in the southern state of Bavaria, about 100 kilometers away from Munich.

The siblings attended elementary school and middle school in the town of 70,000 people, they completed internships, attended church, played in the local soccer club, and learned how to ride a bike.

"Before Germany, I cannot remember anything. We were still young. I don't know any other country," 17-year-old Victor told the Spiegel.

"I was about to get my diploma," Victor's twin sister Victoria said. "I was already in tenth grade and had completed my oral examinations. I lived in Germany for almost nine years. Was this all in vain?"

The family is still trying to fight for their return with help of Osa and a lawyer, but a final decision could take months. Until then, they have to live in fear of facing assaults, contagious diseases and, above all, uncertainty.

Little hope for a reversal of fortunes
Back in Kempten, the siblings' friends are also fighting for their return. In June, some 60 people protested in the city on their behalf with banners, saying 'Bring the Ovbiagele family back!'

However, the overall protection rate for Nigerians in Germany is low: the Ovbiagele's asylum applications were rejected all the way back in 2016 already.

As a result, for years, the family-of-five were among the around 300,000 people in Germany whose status is referred to as 'ausreisepflichtig' -- or legally obliged to leave the country.

"Receiving negative letters from the authorities breaks down your psyche," Victoria told the Spiegel.

"Deportation was always a threat we fought over a lot. It was too much for my mother."

Deportations on the rise

According to the Spiegel, the Bavarian Refugee Council had criticized the state's increasingly volatile deportation policy back in February already, highlighting that forced returns from Bavaria now appear to target families with children.

"The Interior Ministry and the foreigners' offices have become unscrupulous. The cases, in which families are getting deported into hopeless situations, are on the rise," the council stated at the time.

Almost 13,000 people were deported from Germany last year, according to Spiegel. Among them were 2,196 minors, including fully integrated school children, many of whom have little or no connection to their parents' home countries.

In many instances, their language skills in German are superior to their abilities to speak their parents' mother tongues.

Germany's need for immigration vs. reality
Germany's present deportation policy, however, is in stark contrast to the fact that the country needs immigrants rather urgently: At the end of June, the EU member state passed its new skilled labor migration law to fill the gap of an estimated 400,000 skilled workers.

Economists say, however, that even this target falls short, claiming that Germany needs a net influx of nearly 1.5 million people -- per year.

But not everyone in Germany is in favor of welcoming more foreigners: A survey from May found that one in two Germans are scared of more refugees coming to Germany. Regardless, the government has pledged to invest more into attracting workers from abroad.

This new policy, however, is of little use to the Ovbiagele family; after living in the country for a total of for nine years, Germany eventually threw them out -- shortly before they would finally become ready and able to start giving back.

https://www.infomigrants.net/en/post/50642/germany-four-nigerian-siblings-deported-despite-being-integrated-into-society

Hmmm. This is a story of Japa-DA.

The family have since moved into a small room in Benin City, Bose Ovbiagele's hometown, with the help of Osa. However, this is only a temporary solution.

According to the Spiegel, the city of 1.5 million people is notorious for being a center of human trafficking and forced prostitution and is considered to be one of the most dangerous places in Nigeria.

See finishing for Benin. Truly Edo no be Lagos. Smh.

Deportations on the rise: According to the Spiegel, the Bavarian Refugee Council had criticized the state's increasingly volatile deportation policy back in February already, highlighting that forced returns from Bavaria now appear to target families with children.
This is the same state of Bavaria in Germany where the former Deputy Senate President,(DSP) Dr. Ike Ekweremadu was attacked ,as a sitting DSP with diplomatic immunity, by the members of the proscribed IPOB group.

Consequently, there were arrest of 20 people suspected to have been among those who attacked Ekweremadu, 4 were convicted followed by massive deportation after that unfortunate incident. FG did not take it easy at all. You can not mess with Nigeria and FG will take it low.Check my signature for free stuffs!

This is a seige

……This deportation shall favour them and their family

Welcome to Agbado regime🤣😂😂😂😂

The village witch whey run this one na baba!

Lots of Africans are being deported from Germany on a monthly basis, I even watched a YouTube video where some deportees broke the window of the bus transporting them to the airport for deportation. The fact is that it's very difficult to live in Germany without being legit. I wish the family all the best of luck

Roger3D:
Lots of Nigerians are

........are what?

If it’s not your own, it will never be your own.
I hate the fact that black African politicians are aggressively lacking in humanity.

If not for the fact say our politicians are not interested in developing their countries, wetin for make man japa go another man country to go start life afresh.

Simple...when going abroad, get the right documents, and don't tell lies.

God of host... where the family won start from... and our dear country is not in good shape at the moment..

It's well. What doesn't kill a man can only make him stronger

It is well. Hopefully, they do well enough in their studies in Nigeria to finish High School and were of good behavior while in Germany. They may be able to secure funding for their undergraduate studies in Germany.

They got deported in dis era of shege



Dis is not a good idea

good. so that these obese children will now be in a good shape

What was their crime

Nigeria...Africa MUST be fixed.

Caucasians and Asians sacrificed to fix their homes. Germany and Japan were in ruins after World War. Russia and China suffered famine to the extent people cannibalized each other. Where are all these countries today?

Yet Africans want to just "japa" and go benefit from the fruits of the labour of those guys. They aren't idiots.

If UK as small as it was in size practically colonized most of the world, just know they are smart enough to ALWAYS be 1trillion steps ahead.

Don't be surprised if these folks too are like people in diaspora who love to say "Nigeria can never be good". Welcome home

MODIFIED : Just read their denigrating comments about Edo, Nigeria. So if Germans still refuse their return.... what will they do? Die or Adapt?

Canada did similar to a Nigerian man that’s was married and had a kid

falcon01:
shut up baboon

You will meet your end as usual. Suicidal maniac. You are mad.

Damn! This is indeed sad
Where them wan start from? I no even wish this kind thing for my enemy. fvckin crazy times.

Welcome back home.

If we had a working country, why would someone visit a "fridge" and overstay their visa?

With agbadorians and their paymaster worsening Nigeria's economic woes, Nigeria's situation is pathetic, to say the least!