At least 1,237 Nigerians were stopped from entering Germany between January and November 2016, according to official documents cited by a German newspaper.
The Nigerians were among 19,720 migrants stopped from entering Germany during the period, the Neue Osnabruecker Zeitung (NOZ) reported, citing numbers from the German Federal Police.
Scores of Nigerians travel out of the country daily seeking greener pastures in Europe, U.S. and Asia.
About 83 Nigerians reportedly embarked on the perilous journey to Europe through the Mediterranean Sea daily in the first nine months of 2016, according to data by the European Union.
The daily figure was extrapolated from the 22,500 illegal Nigerian migrants that the EU said crossed the Mediterranean Sea to Europe between January and September this year.
This figure in the first 9 months of 2016 is against the 23,000 who crossed in the whole of 2015.
Nigerians were, however, not the highest number turned back by German authorities in 2016.
Afghan asylum seekers were turned back most often, with 3,695 people affected in 2016 so far. In addition, 2,142 Syrians, and 1,794 Iraqis have been stopped from entering Germany so far this year.
Statistics for December are yet to be compiled, the newspaper said.
The 2016 number turned back by German authorities marked more than 100 per cent increase in comparison to 2015, when 8,913 migrants were stopped from entering the country over the course of the whole year.
Despite the overall increase, the newspaper reported that the number of people turned away by police has been going down in recent months.
This is partly due to the fact that Germany’s border controls now only take place at the border to Austria, NOZ said.
Despite being part of the control-free Schengen area, Germany decided in November to extend border controls at the Germany-Austria border until February.
German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said that Germany had to take the step until the European Union was able to sufficiently control its external borders.
Copyright Ships & Ports Ltd. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit given to www.shipsandports.com.ng as the source.
