On a bright sunny day in March, the search-and-rescue vessel Life Support set off on a 30-hour journey from the Sicilian port of Catania to Malta's search-and-rescue zone. The boat is run by the Milan-based humanitarian organization Emergency.

Sailing down, crew members ran drills — what to do, for example, if a migrant boat capsized and people were drowning, or how to save people who could not move their legs. Afterward, in the ship's living room, they discussed how to behave if the Libyan coast guard approached the boat before or during a rescue.

Instructions differed based on whether the coast guard had drawn firearms or was merely "hanging around" in an attempt to intimidate the vessel.

Just hours later, elsewhere in the Mediterranean, that threat was borne out. Members of the Libyan coast guard attempted to "forcibly board" the search-and-rescue vessel Geo Barents, run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF), which had departed Italy shortly before Life Support. For two hours, the coast guard "aggressively threatened survivors and MSF staff with arrest and forcible removal to Libya," Doctors Without Borders said.

Nicola Selva Bonino, a Life Support sea rescuer, told DW the Libyan coast guard has approached the Life Support around five times in the year it's been in operation.

Libya's coast guard is partly financed and supplied by the European Union. Since 2017, the bloc has allocated more than €57 million to help Libyan authorities patrol their border.

NGOs replace government vessels

In the eight years since the so-called "migrant crisis" of 2015, EU ships have halted nearly all operations in the search-and-rescue zones between the southern coasts of Europe and the coasts of North Africa. Ships like the Life Support have taken their place.

Critics of NGO sea rescue operations have said they offer a "pull factor" for irregular migrants looking to enter EU countries whose asylum systems are already overwhelmed. Migrants who set off to sea — and particularly those who embark unseaworthy vessels that could not feasibly make the entire journey on their own — place their bets in getting rescued by European NGOs, they said.

No research has conclusively proven this is the case, but it represents one of the main arguments against sea rescue missions debated in Europe's halls of government.

'Really easy' to miss boats in the dark

Shortly after entering the Maltese search-and-rescue zone in the early hours of March 16, the Life Support learned about a migrant vessel in distress 35 nautical miles away.

The ship located migrants seven hours later, in a white fiberglass boat with a broken motor overloaded with 71 people, mostly young Bangladeshi men, but also some Eritreans, an Egyptian and a young woman. Many had spent months in Libyan prisons before the journey, they told DW, showing bruises on their backs where they said they had been whipped by prison guards.

"The prison, it was so hard," said an Eritrean migrant named Mehretab. "You only eat once a day. If you're dead, if you're alive, they don't care."

After setting off from the Libyan city of Tajura, they had been at sea without food or drinking water for the past 20 hours. By the time the Life Support located them, they said they were certain they were about to die.

Shortly after staff facilitated the rescue that night, the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center, or MRCC, a Rome-based control center that governs sea rescue operations in and near Italian waters, instructed the Life Support to start trying to locate a second boat in distress.

It's possible this was the vessel migrants said left just 15 minutes before theirs from Tajura. The boat held their friends, mostly people from sub-Saharan Africa, including women and children, said passengers. Mehretab said the boat contained Eritreans he had lived with for the past two months in Libya.

Staff were told the boat could be as close as 5 nautical miles, or around 30 minutes, away. But after searching until around 4 a.m., the mission was called off by the MRCC, and the vessel was instructed to go to Italy's northern port of Ravenna — four days further sailing.

Life Support staff asked if they could keep looking for the boat until daylight to ensure they weren't missing something. The night had been clear but dark, with no moonshine.

"It could have been really easy to pass by and not see it," said Anabel Montes Mier, Emergency's search-and-rescue operations manager.

The control center denied the request, and did not explain why. It has not answered DW's requests for comment on the decision.

Rescue boats detained

If the Life Support vessel had chosen not to follow this command, it's likely it would have been detained upon arrival to Italy. Indeed, three search-and-rescue vessels were detained during Life Support's mission: SOS Humanity's Humanity 1, the Sea Watch 5 and Sea Eye 4.

The MSF boat, Geo Barents, which landed in a northern Italian port on March 20, was also detained. Italian authorities kept it in port for 20 days for "failing to comply" with instructions issued by the Libyan coast guard.

Four days after the rescue, the Life Support team still had no information to give the migrants who asked what happened to the second boat. It's possible but unlikely that its passengers successfully steered it to the island of Lampedusa, the closest European territory to Libya and the goal for most migrant boats that cross the Mediterranean.

It could also have been intercepted by the Libyan coast guard. Or it could have sunk into the sea.

Italy's new law makes Mediterranean crossing 'even more dangerous'

Rescue missions in the Mediterranean haven't always looked like this. There was a time when ships came and left from Sicily, a little over a day of sailing from the search-and-rescue zone, and didn't return to land until they had rescued as many boats in distress as they could.

But at the start of 2023, Italy implemented new legislation requiring ships to sail to assigned ports, often days away, immediately after facilitating a single sea rescue.

For example, Life Support's mission could have started on Friday afternoon and ended Monday morning if the ship had been assigned a Sicilian port. Instead, it lasted nearly a week.

Three days after Italy's government signed its 2023 law, 18 organizations facilitating sea rescue in the Mediterranean published a statement warning it would cause more deaths on the already dangerous migration route.

The law "will reduce rescue capacities at sea and thereby make the central Mediterranean, one of the world’s deadliest migration routes, even more dangerous," they wrote. "The decree ostensibly targets [search-and-rescue] NGOs, but the real price will be paid by people fleeing across the central Mediterranean and finding themselves in situations of distress." 

Bittersweet end for migrants

Last year marked the deadliest period for migrants at sea in Europe since 2017.

In the less than 24 hours the Life Support was in the search-and-rescue zone, it received six calls from boats in distress, Montes Mier told DW, speaking from the ship's control room on the final day of the mission. Due to the constraints imposed, the vessel was only able to rescue one.

In fact, for at least two clear, sunny days after the Life Support departed the zone, there were no vessels at all patrolling the area between Libya and Italy.

Life Support, on its trek back to Ravenna, carried 71 migrants to safety — less than half the ship's capacity.

These migrants were safe. But none had heard from their friends on the second boat.

Edited by: Cathrin Schaer

"Are you Tajik? If you are, cancel the ride."

This was what many taxi drivers in Russia have heard from potential customers following last Friday's attack on the Crocus City Hall near Moscow. The attack claimed the lives of at least 139 people, either shot at point-blank range or suffocated by the smoke when the attackers set the concert hall on fire.

This week, the Basmanny District Court in Moscow arrested 11 people, including seven of Tajik origin, who are suspected of committing or of being complicit in the biggest such attack Russia has witnessed in past decades. While Russia has pointed fingers at Ukraine, a branch of the militant group "Islamic State" known as ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the attack and released body-cam footage of the carnage.

The nationality of the suspects has sparked a heated debate on tightening migration laws among Russian policymakers. It has also led to rising xenophobia against the Central Asian community working and living in Russia, particularly Tajik nationals.

Travel warnings for Central Asian migrants

In the wake of the deadly attack, the Tajik community has warned Tajik nationals against leaving their homes in the evenings, according to reports by Baza, a Russian Telegram news channel. What\s more, some Central Asian states such as Kyrgyzstan, have warned their citizens against traveling to Russia.

While xenophobia has long been a major threat to Central Asian communities in Russia, many Tajiks living there who spoke with DW following the attack are concerned things will now get worse.

Alisher, a fire safety worker from Tajikistan now living in St. Petersburg, told DW that after the attack, he was approached by strangers on the streets.

"Once they asked me about my ethnicity and whether I supported terrorists. I told them that I am a Russian citizen without any accent, and they left me alone. I am here legally, but those who are here without papers are afraid of deportation," he said.

Some Russian far-right and pro-war Telegram channels have been flooded with messages inciting violence against migrants, suggesting that Central Asians and their entire families be deported.

Before the attack, Abdullo, a fruit vendor in one of Moscow's markets and another Tajik national, told DW that he occasionally received xenophobic messages on social media. But after March 22, the hateful messages had become more intense.

"They try to threaten me online to push me to leave Russia. But I don't consider that because I cannot make a good living back home in Tajikistan," he said.

Physical attacks against Tajiks in Russia

Abuse against Central Asians has also not just remained verbal, but also taken on physical form. In Blagoveshchensk, in Russia's Far East region, for example, a cafe shop run by Tajik nationals was set on fire.

In a different incident, in Kaluga, a city located 200 kilometers (around 125 miles) southwest of Moscow, three Tajik nationals were beaten up by persons unknown. Since last Saturday, a group of recently arrived Kyrgyz citizens has been held in the airport for checks.The Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has reported that controls on arriving immigrants may be tightened.

Edward Lemon, an expert on Central Asia and research professor at Texas A&M University, told DW that ordinary Russians perceived the post-Soviet Central Asian region as backwards, despite what they see as efforts to "civilize" it under Russian and Soviet rule. He said "media and nationalist influencers portray Central Asians as uneducated, potential criminals and terrorists. They face marginalization and racism on a daily basis."

Central Asians face police checks, unlawful detentions

However, Central Asians are also facing ethnic discrimination from Russian officials. Russian independent media outlet Mediazona reported that rights groups had received more than 2,500 complaints from Central Asian migrants about unwarranted police checks and unlawful detentions in the two days following the attack. It said dozens of them have even reportedly been subject to torture and deportation.

In the wake of the massacre, Russian policymakers have also been pushing for entry restrictions and digital controls for migrants.

"The suspects reported in the media are migrants. And this raises the problem of migration policy. [...] Information about crimes committed by migrants appears in the media almost daily,"   Sergey Aksyonov, the head of Russian-annexed Crimea, wrote on his Telegram channel on Sunday.

Temur Umarov, a Central Asia expert at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center in Berlin, told DW that while Moscow wants to maintain good relations with its longtime ally Tajikistan, it also can't ignore public feeling in Russia.

"That's why [Russian President Vladimir] Putin emphasizes that the terrorists have no nationality, but that doesn't mean that society has the same attitude. The Russian government has to show that they are dealing with that problem, as some people will not be drawing differences between radical Islamists and labor migrants and pressure the government to limit the number of those migrants," he said.

Russia depends on migrants

Most migrants from Central Asia come to work in Russia as taxi drivers, janitors and construction workers. According to the Institute of Demographic Research at the Russian Academy of Sciences, more than 3 million Tajik migrants were living in Russia in 2023.

While Umarov thinks the attack will affect migrants both with regard to their situation under law and in day-to-day life, he doubts the Russian state can afford to cut off migrant flows, as the Russian economy relies heavily on Central Asian labor.

"I don't think it is possible to change this situation because there are not enough Russians of a certain age that would be able to replace 5–6 million migrants annually, considering that the demographic situation is getting worse. It will be a miracle if Russia is able to kick out migrants and replace them with Russians," he said.

The names of the Tajik nationals interviewed for this article have been changed to protect their identities.

Edited by: Timothy Jones

When it comes to refugees, 91-year-old Alfred Dubs is easily enraged. The British government's plan to send refugees to Rwanda is "shameful" and damages the United Kingdom's reputation, he said.

Dubs knows what it feels like to leave one's family and home behind, as he himself traveled on the Kindertransport from Prague to London at the age of 6 to escape the Holocaust. Today, he sits as a life peer in the House of Lords for the opposition Labour Party and campaigns on behalf of refugees.

So far, the Lords have refused to pass the "Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill." One reason is that it violates international law. But Dubs predicts they will ultimately give in since the Conservatives also make up the largest group in the House of Lords and the will to fight among the older Lords is waning.

Courts previously blocked the plan

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made it a priority to "stop the boats." Almost 30,000 refugees came across the English Channel last year, mostly in small rubber dinghies. They, and all the other refugees who have reached the country "irregularly" since the beginning of 2022, could soon face deportation to Rwanda. Regardless of their origin, they will be shipped to the East African country and forced to submit their asylum applications there instead of in the UK.

Two years ago, Boris Johnson's government became the first to charter a plane to take a small group of refugees to Kigali, despite fierce protests from many human rights organizations. The European Court of Human Rights put a stop to Johnson's plans at the last minute.

The UK has already transferred £140 million ($178 million, €163.5 million) to Rwanda, but so far no refugees have actually been sent. The British Supreme Court initially declared the plan illegal, ruling that Rwanda is not a safe third country. The government has since rectified this via a new agreement in which the Rwandan state has promised not deport to anyone to their country of origin.

Sunak has argued that accommodating refugees in British hotels costs £6 million a day and hopes the Rwandan deportations will have a deterrent effect. If the bill doesn't pass, more people will die making the dangerous crossing, the minister responsible, Andrew Sharpe, warned his colleagues in the House of Lords. The Lords should not oppose the "will of the people," Sunak has said in a bid to win support for his tough asylum policy.

Deterrent effect unclear

Opinions differ as to whether the bill would even have an affect on refugee numbers. Jacqueline McKenzie is a human rights lawyer in London, representing, among others, an Iraqi who was already shackled in a bus on the tarmac to be deported to Rwanda before the European Court of Justice prevented it with its urgent ruling.

It was a traumatic experience for him, McKenzie said. He has since proven that he was a victim of human trafficking and is now legally allowed to stay in the UK.

McKenzie doesn't believe that the bill will have a deterrent effect. "We've been talking about Rwanda for years, and people are still coming," she said.

Nikolai Posner isn't convinced either. He works for the French refugee organization Utopia 56 in the northern French port city of Calais, where many migrants embark on their risky journey. When the plan first became known two years ago, there were fewer crossings at first. That is, "until the smugglers decreased the price," as they could well do again. Like many who work in refugee aid, he is calling for more safe and legal migration routes.

Many who make the dangerous journey from France to the southern English coast have family in the UK. And most of them are indeed entitled to asylum because they come from countries like Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan, where war and persecution mean that the vast majority of applications have been accepted so far.

Even if the law is passed in the next few days, it remains unclear when the first flights to Rwanda will depart. Civil servants' associations have called for renewed legal clarification, as they believe the new regulations continue to violate international law. Lawyer McKenzie has also predicted that the legal dispute will continue.

Sunak set on swift implementation

However, the prime minister seems determined to deport the first refugees as quickly as possible. He has made the issue of migration a top priority and aims to have the first planes take off for Kigali within days.

It's a repellant thought for Alfred Dubs. After all, he said, the UK is one of the founding members of the European Court of Justice and a signatory to the Geneva Convention on Refugees. The fact that his home country, which took him in so generously as a child, is now setting an "appalling example" is something he will continue to fight as best he can, he said.

This article was originally written in German.

In the village of Wale, Thailand and Myanmar are connected by a small wooden bridge. The narrow river that flows beneath it constitutes the border. The villages on the two banks share the same name, and their lives are closely entwined. Locals carry rice and vegetables back and forth across the little footbridge; children splash and play in the water below. The Thai border guard in the observation post is paying far more attention to his cellphone than to the flow of commuters.

The majority of people who cross here are from the local villages. In recent weeks, however, an unusually large number of young people from other parts of Myanmar have been crossing the border in this quiet village.

"I can spot them straight away by their big rucksacks," said Tungsa, as she plays dominoes outside her general store on the Myanmar side of the river.

'If they make it here, they're safe'

These young people are fleeing conscription into Myanmar's military. Thousands are seeking to go abroad before mandatory military service comes into effect in April, for men between 18 and 35 years old and women aged 18 to 27. Anyone who doesn't go into hiding risks being ordered, as a soldier, to commit war crimes. And refusing to do military service is punishable by several years in jail.

"If they make it here, they're safe," said Tungsa. That's because the Myanmar side of Wale is controlled by the Karen National Union. It's one of the ethnic militias that are fighting the Myanmar army inside the country on several fronts. The military junta has suffered some bitter defeats in recent months.

The United States Institute of Peace estimates that the Myanmar army has just 130,000 soldiers at most, and that only about half are combat-ready. Observers believe the impending obligatory conscription is a desperate attempt to forcibly augment their greatly reduced troop numbers. And so more and more young people trying to escape conscription are now thronging into neighboring Thailand.

In the past few weeks, hundreds have been arrested by patrolling border police. Human rights activists report that, depending on the policeman or arresting authority, they may be detained, sent back over the border, or, on occasion, released on payment of a bribe.

Porous 'green border' allows many to cross

However, most refugees from Myanmar make it into Thailand undetected, either by sneaking across the porous, virtually unguarded jungle border, or by mingling with regular commuters. At the Ban Mun Ru Chai river border to the west of Wale, the Thai guard post isn't even staffed. A couple of goats who have taken up residence watch the many people crossing the river to the Thai side.

The Thai government seems to have been wholly unprepared for the situation in Myanmar, said security expert Panitan Wattanayagorn, a professor at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. He assumes that fighting between the military junta and resistance groups will intensify over the coming months, and that forced conscription will continue to drive people across the border into Thailand. On the TV channel Thai PBS, Wattanayagorn warned that Bangkok urgently needs to put measures in place to deal with the impending influx of refugees from Myanmar.

The Thai foreign minister has announced plans to establish a humanitarian security zone along the western border, providing refugees with food and medical assistance. However, authorities have not given any information about where exactly the protected zone would be located, or when it would be established.

Meanwhile, only random checks are being carried out along over 2,000-kilometer (1,240-mile) border between Myanmar and Thailand. "I check people on a random basis," said the border guard in Wale. Last week, he arrested six people trying to escape conscription. But "sometimes I just let them through," he admited, fixing his attention on his plate of rice as three people from Myanmar scuttled unchallenged over the bridge.

Thailand needs cheap workers from Myanmar

People in Wale don't seem to fear an influx of refugees. "Just let them all in," said Pattanew, a motorcycle taxi driver who is at the waiting area near the border bridge. He transports day laborers on the back of his moped; they work for very little money, tending Thai fields and cleaning houses. "Without the migrant workers from Myanmar, we would have a lot of issues," he said. "They're very hardworking; they tolerate the sun and rain and don't complain."

Most of his passengers work in the surrounding border region. The new refugees, on the other hand, mostly travel on to big cities like Bangkok, Chiang Mai or the migrant quarter of Samut Sakhon, where they find places to stay among their fellow countrymen.

It's estimated there are between 2 and 3 million people from Myanmar living in Thailand. No one knows the exact number, as many are in the country illegally. One of them, a man in his early 20s, asked to be referred to by the pseudonym "Mao Uh." He's afraid that otherwise, he may be detected by the authorities' radar.

Hoping for a work permit

It has been almost a month since he left his family in Ayeyarwady, west of Yangon, and set out for Thailand. The journey was a nerve-wracking one. Every time he passed through one of the junta's checkpoints, he ran the risk of being detected and arrested. "I was very lucky," he said. Eventually he made it across the "green border" in the countryside, into Thailand.

Since then, he has been holed up in a Bangkok suburb, in a stuffy room that he seldom leaves. He's worried about his sister back home. Like him, she faces being called up for military service.

"We've already agreed that she'll follow as soon as I have work here," said Mao. Ideally, he would like to work in the security sector as a guard, protecting people. But essentially he's prepared to do any work, "no matter what, no matter where."

Mao is hoping for a so-called worker amnesty from the Thai authorities. Four times a year, illegal migrants can apply for an amnesty that will allow them to work in the country legally for a certain period of time. However, labor lawyers are critical of the procedure; they say it's too complicated and susceptible to corruption, which is why many refugees from Myanmar simply work illegally.

Thai authorities 'turning a blind eye'

According to the International Labor Organization, the invisible migrant workers from Myanmar already contribute up to 6.6% of Thailand's GDP. Sompong Srakaew from the Labor Rights Promotion Network is convinced the influx of workers from the neighboring country will further support the economy. "It's good for the Thai economy, because employers need cheap workers to remain competitive," he said.

Srakaew, who advocates for migrant rights, estimates more than 10,000 people fleeing conscription have already crossed the border, with more coming every day. "It seems that the Thai authorities are turning a blind eye, and allowing many to enter the country unofficially," he said.

This article was originally written in German.

German employers are short of hundreds of thousands of workers. IT and technology, medical care, contractor fields, technology and logistics are among the hardest hit sectors.

The reworked Skilled Immigration Act, which Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, passed in the summer, aims to quickly lower the barriers to immigration of skilled workers from countries outside the European Union.

Starting November 18, 2023, the new rules are coming into force in three stages. Details, available in German, English, French and Spanish, are available on the government website.

EU Blue Card

Starting in November 2023, more academic and similarly qualified workers from third countries have been able to come to Germany on the EU Blue Card without German language requirements.

Annual salary limits, in place to prevent wage dumping, were changed in 2024 to just under 45,300 ($49,500) for entry-level and in-demand jobs, known as "bottleneck occupations"; the cut-off for all other occupations was set at €41,042.

Such occupations now include educators and nurses.

In the IT sector, skilled workers without a university degree can also receive an EU Blue Card if they can prove that they have at least three years of relevant professional experience. Nursing assistants with less than three years of nursing training are also granted access to the German labor market.

In Germany, the Blue Card has been in place for a decade. With the lower income requirement, it will now be easier to get. Once in Germany, workers will also have more flexibility in changing careers, although regulated professions — such as law and medicine — will still require the necessary qualifications.

Right of residence, more flexibility

Skilled workers with professional or academic qualifications who meet all the requirements are now entitled to a residence permit. Previously, diplomatic missions abroad and immigration authorities had discretionary powers.

The Federal Employment Agency has been instructed to accelerate the approval process of prospective foreign workers. Experienced skilled workers will no longer need their qualifications recognized in Germany if they are already recognized by their country of origin and have at least two years of professional experience.

Qualifications and training

Anyone who needs to undergo training to obtain a qualification in Germany to match their equivalent foreign training can stay in Germany for up to three years and work up to 20 hours per week on the side. Part-time work will also be extended in general to students and trainees.

If employers in Germany agree, skilled workers can come directly to Germany and work while the procedure to recognize their qualifications is underway. The stay can be extended to up to three years. Prerequisites are a professional qualification of at least two years and at least an A2 level of German.

Family reunification

Concerning spouses and underage children, skilled workers have to prove they can support their livelihoods, but not that they have sufficient living space. They may also bring their parents or parents-in-law.

Further changes are to come into force on June 1, 2024.

Opportunity card

A points-based "opportunity card" is set to be introduced in June for those with an equivalent foreign qualification. This will allow them to come to Germany for a year to look for work, so long as they can demonstrate financial independence. For others, a university degree or a vocational qualification of at least two years, plus either A1-level German or B2-level English, will be required.

Workers with an opportunity card may work up to 20 hours per week, including during a probation period. The opportunity card can be extended for up to two years for those who have a contract for qualified employment.

Western Balkans regulation

Another regulation affects people from countries in the western Balkans, which doubles the quota to 50,000 workers from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia who may come to Germany. These are countries that have long been on the waiting list to join the EU.

This article was originally written in German. It was first published in November 2023 and republished to reflect new developments.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.

The skin beneath Guo's pant leg is rubbed raw and, despite the bitter cold, he's only wearing dusty plastic sandals. The 24-year-old said he bought them in Colombia, on a migration route to the United States favored by people from Latin America and the Caribbean. Now, like Guo, ever more migrants from China are joining them.

Guo's journey began in Shenzhen, in southeastern China. From there, he flew to Ecuador. "We all go to Ecuador [...] because Ecuador is visa-free country for China passport," said Guo. The remainder of his trek was via land, taking him through the Darien Gap, a densely overgrown rainforest that leads from Colombia into Panama. From there, he ultimately arrived in Jacumba Hot Springs, a tiny California town of 600 residents located about 125 kilometers (75 miles) east of downtown San Diego.

Guo sat with his legs curled up in his arms on a plastic tarp he had laid on the ground to fight the cold of the desert morning. In China, he worked as a factory mechanic. His English is broken, but his euphoria is clear. "Very exciting," he said, "because I finally here in the US."

He had crossed the US-Mexico border the night before with 50 other people. Migrants who arrive here enter through gaps in the US border wall, such as at the nearby San Judas Break. They were lined up, waiting for US Customs and Border Patrol agents to pick them up so that they could officially apply for asylum. Several wore down jackets; others were wrapped up in blankets. They had very few belongs with them — only two had suitcases. Most of them were from China.

For Chinese nationals, asylum chances are high

Although the number of Chinese nationals crossing the US southern border is still small in comparison to other nationalities — making up just 2.5% of overall entries according to US Customs and Border Protection data — they are now among the fastest-growing groups among all those seeking entry. From October through January, US Border Patrol agents registered about 19,000 illegal Chinese entries. During the same period in 2021, while pandemic restrictions were still in place, only 55 were registered. 

Michelle Mittelstadt, of the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, said most Chinese people chose to enter the United States via the southern border because of stringent US visa rules and long waits for Chinese nationals through official channels.

Despite entering the country illegally, the chances of getting asylum in the United States are fairly good for Chinese nationals. According to the US Justice Department, asylum was granted to over 50% of Chinese applicants, as opposed to only 4% of Mexicans.

"I know all this information from internet, from TikTok," said Guo, pulling his cellphone out of his pocket. Social media channels on video and messaging platforms display the best routes for getting into the US, giving step-by-step instructions, suggesting various modes of transportation, and even listing how much border patrol agents expect to be bribed in each country along the way.

'Take the risk'

The phenomenon of Chinese people entering the United States via the southern border has come to be described by the term "Zouxian," which can roughly be translated as "take the risk." The term's broad dissemination on social media platforms has led many young Chinese to do just that.

"They rely on social media more in China for getting their information," said Ian Johnson, a China expert at the US Council on Foreign Relations. "In the Western countries, you would say: 'What does the mainstream media say about it?' But, in China, there is no way to fact check." Johnson said he was concerned that so many of those young people have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

What's driving Chinese to flee their homeland? "China has lots of problems," said Guo. "Young people cannot afford the house prices in the city."

China's economy is in a downturn, with extremely high youth unemployment, and deflation forecast for the coming year. That could all lead to a spiral of plunging consumer spending, company bankruptcies and mass unemployment. And Johnson said the situation would not just hit the very poor.

"The economic slowdown is affecting broader ranges of the population, including the lower middle class," said Johnson. He added that increased political persecution under President Xi Jinping has also fueled a desire to leave China behind.

Guo's family doesn't know that he has fled to the United States. "I don't have a good relationship with my family, because I have total different opinion about the government, about CCP [the Chinese Communist Party], about this world. I don't like totalitarianism," he said, adding that he's known that the US is a democracy and an economically powerful nation from the time he was a child.

It's unclear how long Guo will have to sit in the desert cold. Border agents are making the rounds in their white Jeeps, but it could be a few hours before anyone is sent by to pick them up, maybe even another night. But Guo said he is not worried about being sent back. His plan once he gets settled in the US?

"Get a job to have better life. Few years later, I want to be a professional truck driver."

This article was originally written in German and translated by Jon Shelton.

Cameroon's government officials say that more than 6,000 teachers, doctors and nurses have left their jobs in public service within the past three months. Europe has long been a destination for most Cameroonians, but increasing numbers are finding opportunities in Canada, where immigration schemes favor young migrants.

The impact in Cameroon has been bad enough to gain the attention of President Paul Biya.

The 91-year-old president, who has led Cameroon since 1982, released a statement lamenting the youth's increasing desire to leave the Central African nation for greater opportunities. In labored sentences, Biya appealed to young Cameroonians' sense of patriotism and duty to remain in Cameroon, saying leaving was "not the solution" to Cameroon's problems.

The message has been broadcast in the capital, Yaounde, by state media ever since Cameroon celebrated its National Youth Day on February 11. At the Government High School Nyom, it blasts through speakers each morning.

Many Cameroonians are eager to leave

But Biya's words seem to fall on deaf ears. Not even teachers like 37-year-old Josian Minta are listening. She already tried leaving Cameroon once for Thailand two years ago. But she was turned away at the Thai airport due to an invalid visa.

"We went to Nigeria, to Abuja. I had to send my passport to Kenya. An agent told me, 'Okay, everything is ready, your visa is ready,'" she told DW. "So, when I went to Thailand, at the airport, the immigration officers took my passport, and they were asking how I got the visa."

Even though Minta said she was happy Biya addressed the issue, primarily due to her unpleasant experience emigrating, she said she would not obey Biya's advice for youths to remain in Cameroon and serve their fatherland. In fact, Minta said she would raise money to legally travel to Canada, where she believes many opportunities and better pay await.

Reasons Cameroonians want to emigrate

Tumenta F. Kennedy, a Cameroon-based international migration consultant, said poor working conditions and low salaries have been a significant push factor. "You can't use moral appeal or patriotism to make people stay," Kennedy told DW, adding that humans are driven by their dignity and ability to meet their basic needs.

"Addressing the mass movement requires efforts on addressing the root causes of migration, such as political instability, economic hardships, lack of job opportunities and last but not the least, security concerns."

Cameroon faces three humanitarian crises: In the far North near Lake Chad, there is insecurity due to the presence of Nigeria's militant Islamist group  Boko Haram. In the Northwest and Southwest regions, Cameroon is grappling with the Anglophone crisis, where separatists are clamoring for independence. The country also has to contend with instability in neighboring Central African Republic.

In addition, Cameroon faces high unemployment, and many other national challenges. Currently, the nation hosts over half a million refugees, and the European Commission estimates that around 4 million people in Cameroon need humanitarian assistance.

Angeline Fua, a 32-year-old pharmacist, says her desire to leave Cameroon increases daily because her salary is way below what other pharmacists earn abroad.

"As a pharmacist, they pay you 80,000 CFA francs ($132, €121). Meanwhile, in other countries like Canada and the United States, you hear of people being paid 500,000 CFA francs and above," Fua told DW, as she complained about the rising cost of living.

"I am a mother. I should take care of my children, pay their fees; I have my plans, and projects, but with what we earn in Cameroon, it is really not possible."

Europe closing doors on emigrants

Kennedy says traditional European destinations have closed their doors to would-be immigrants. "Going to Germany, France or Belgium to study is a nightmare," Tumenta noted, stressing that many Cameroonians now prefer North America. He added that the "best young brains" are leaving Cameroon.

"We have seen an aggressive advertisement coming up in the last few years from Canada and the United States, and this has been done through a very appeasing approach," Kennedy said. "You don't see Canadians advertising study in Canada, but you see Cameroonians that have made their life, they now open an agency back in Cameroon facilitating legal migration to Canada."

Canada has also specifically targeted francophone Africans to work in its French-speaking province of Quebec. And with respect to the US, Cameroon said 2023 saw a 70% increase in people applying for the US Diversity Visa Lottery, also known as the Green Card Lottery, which awards immigrant visas.

Sending money from abroad

African migrants remit billions of dollars to support their families and their investments. According to the World Bank, remittance flows to sub-Saharan Africa stood at a staggering $54 billion in 2023.

Kennedy said that remittances play a vital role not only in the development of the economy but also in democratization processes in Africa. "When the diasporas gain knowledge, they are capable of supporting their families, not just in money, but also ethical values schemes and the democratic principles," Temunta said.  

This aspect has also been supported through development projects by Germany's Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in Cameroon, Ghana and Kenya, all of which have sizable diasporas in Europe. 

"Many Africans have an umbilical cord to their families that is more than just the ruling elite that most often is corrupt," Kennedy said, adding that Cameroonians in the diaspora don't care about [President] Paul Biya. "They're interested in the livelihood of their family."

Edited by: Chrispin Mwakideu

The German government seems to be working tirelessly when it comes to migration. In January, during her visit Rabat, Morocco's capital, German Economic Cooperation and Development Minister Svenja Schulze announced a new migration partnership with Morocco.

Just days later, on February 6, she inaugurated a migrant resource center in Nyanya near Abuja, Nigeria's capital, alongside Nigerian Minister of State for Labor and Employment Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

In May last year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a migration partnership with Kenya in an attempt to attract skilled workers from the East African nation.

Apart from Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya, the German government has also signed migration partnerships or is in negotiations to do so with Colombia, India, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Georgia and Moldova.

At the European Union (EU) level, such agreements have been in place for over 15 years. According to the EU-funded Migration Partnership Facility, there are around 50 such partnerships.

'Part of overall concept'

What is the difference between these partnerships, repatriation cooperation agreements or previous migration agreements?

For Joachim Stamp, Germany's special commissioner for migration agreements, "migration partnerships are a component of an overall concept." According to the Interior Ministry, to which Stamp's post is assigned, this includes "a paradigm shift to reduce irregular migration and strengthen legal migration."

He explained that in contrast to general migration agreements, migration partnerships are more about trust-based exchange and cooperation in labor, training and attracting skilled workers. The idea is not only to fight irregular migration but to replace it with regular migration.

Migration expert Steffen Angenendt from the Berlin-based German Institute for International and Security Affairs considers migration partnerships to be "extremely important" and "indispensable," but pointed out that they are not "a panacea for large migration movements."

Partner countries' interests ignored

"Previous agreements have generally been ineffective or have not achieved the effect they were supposed to," Angenendt told DW. "This is because all the EU migration and mobility partnerships concluded since 2007 have been primarily aimed at reducing irregular immigration."

He added that the problem was that the interests of partner countries had consistently been neglected.

These interests include the expansion of regular immigration opportunities to work, study or train in EU countries, he explained. Angenendt said that as long as these considerations were not considered, countries' political will to fulfill treaty obligations would remain low.

Such obligations include the rapid issuing of documents to nationals living in countries where they do not have the right to stay so they can be moved to their country of origin. They also include the stricter monitoring of those wanting to leave a country.

Most asylum-seekers in Germany fleeing war

On closer inspection, this means that migration partnerships are only partially suitable for reducing migration movements. Most people entering Germany as refugees are from countries where there are massive human rights violations and war.

"We cannot develop migration partnerships with countries such as Syria and Afghanistan," said Stamp in a statement. Instead, he stated that the German government was trying to support "neighboring countries that take in refugees from these countries."

According to the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees, most asylum-seekers in recent years have originated from Syria and Afghanistan. In the past three years, the number of asylum-seekers from Turkey has also increased, accounting for 19% of the total. 

Countries with which Germany has migration partnerships, such as Georgia, tend to be at the bottom of the statistics.

"I am very pleased that we have succeeded in reaching an agreement with Georgia and [will do so] in the coming weeks, with Moldova," said Stamp in an interview with the German television news channel Welt TV in early February.

He added that the migration partnership with Morocco announced at the end of January was already being implemented. "After many years in which things didn't go so well, we now have a trusting relationship," he said.

Controversial deal between Italy and Albania

For its part, Italy has reached a controversial agreement with Albania, which has EU candidate status, to reduce migration. This is sometimes called a migration partnership but does not seem to fit the description.

According to the agreement, Albania will establish two centers this year that will detain asylum-seekers while their applications are being processed. The international advocacy organization Human Rights Watch says the deal breaches international law. 

Compared to Italian Prime Minister Georgia Meloni, German development minister Schulze appears to have struck a different tone regarding migration. But she still wants to see more migrants without the right to stay deported from Germany. 

"Migration is a fact of life," she said at the inauguration of the migrant resource center in Nigeria at the beginning of February. "We have to deal with it in a way that benefits everyone: migrants, countries of origin and the communities that receive migrants."

This article was originally written in German.

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The number of asylum applications to the European Union has risen over the past two years. While there were just under 1 million in 2022, the European Union Agency for Asylum has predicted that this mark could now have hit the highest number since 2015, the year in which a especially large number of people came to Europe and former German Chancellor Angela Merkel coined the slogan: "We can do this!"

Of those seeking protection, more than 350,000 entered the EU irregularly (without permission) in the first 11 months of 2023, according to EU border protection agency Frontex.

But irregular migration only accounts for a fraction of all migration to the 27 member states, according to the EU Commission. By contrast, almost 3.5 million people migrated to the EU in 2022 as refugees with asylum status, or to pursue education or a job, for example.

Europe remains a favored destination for migrants

Experts expect that many people will continue to make the dangerous, and sometimes deadly, journey to Europe in 2024. Catherine Woollard, director of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles, told DW that record numbers of people are currently fleeing worldwide. A small proportion of them will seek protection in the EU.

"It is likely that next year there will be somewhere up to a million people be seeking protection [in Europe], and most of them actually in need of protection," said Woollard.

David Kipp, who works on German and European migration policy at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs in Berlin, said there were "no signs of a trend reversal at the moment" because the number of crises are increasing worldwide.

Still, accommodating these migrants is manageable, Woollard said, pointing to the example of the way Ukrainians who fled to the EU in 2022 were integrated. According to the European Council, around 4.2 million Ukrainians received temporary protection in the EU in September 2023. Rather than panic about numbers, Woollard suggested that the functionality of European asylum systems be improved.

EU must now implement long-awaited asylum reforms

In mid-December, the European Parliament and 27 member states agreed on a far-reaching reform to EU migration and asylum policy. Before it can take force, it must still be formally adopted by the member states and the EU Parliament in the first half of 2024, pending the clarification of technical details.

Kipp expects the new laws to be implemented in two to three years. For the time being, the symbolic agreement, which he called a "political liberation" for those involved, is in the foreground.

The reform provides for stricter procedures, such as how asylum-seekers with little chance of success will be received at borders. They are to be housed in detention-like conditions — with no exceptions for families with children. A mandatory solidarity mechanism between member states is also set to ease the burden on border countries. It dictates that if a member state refuses to accept asylum-seekers, it must make up for this refusal with financial compensation or other contributions.

A number of human rights organizations have sharply criticized the planned regulations. Woollard is among those who fear that the already fragile right to asylum will be eroded.

"One of the major challenges is that the pact won't resolve some of the key problems," she said. "Because of the increased responsibility of the countries at the borders, which is part of the pact, we expect to see them responding by engaging in more pushbacks and denials of access at the borders."

In terms of feasibility, Kipp said it remains to be seen just how functional the new proposals will be. For example, it remains unclear whether camps would have to be built to accommodate the new border procedures, and how these could be designed in a humane fashion.

Prevention through diplomacy?

The European Union reached a migration agreement with Tunisia in the summer of 2023. In exchange for over €1 billion (about $1.1 billion) in financial aid, the country would prevent migrants from crossing the Mediterranean for Europe.

However, the agreement has yet to yield any significant results. Meanwhile, relations have reached a standstill in other respects, when in October Tunisian President Kais Saied rejected a multimillion euro payment from the EU as a "handout."

Migration diplomacy will become even more important in 2024, predicted Kipp. The Tunisia deal isn't the EU's first attempt to motivate third countries to keep migrants out of Europe. Similar agreements had already been reached with Turkey and Libya, and another such deal is in the works with Egypt.

But these arrangements are highly controversial from a human rights perspective. What's more, they're not very successful, said Woollard. "There is no real interest or desire from other countries to do Europe's job for it," she added.

The planned border procedures will also require further cooperation with countries that take in rejected asylum-seekers, explained Kipp. But transit countries have no real interest in taking back people who have been deported from third countries.

Migration expected to be key EU election issue

Unofficially, it's said in Brussels that an asylum policy agreement was needed to slow the rise of right-wing populists.

European parliamentary elections are due to take place in June, and migration has often played a major political role in many member state polls — most recently in the Netherlands, where far-right lawmaker Geert Wilders' anti-Islam, anti-immigration Party for Freedom emerged victorious.

However, experts like Kipp are skeptical that the new asylum rules can help to make the issue less explosive, because the reality is that migration will continue.

This article was originally written in German.

When it comes to immigration policy, Chancellor Olaf Scholz has already set the tone for the new year. In an interview with the news magazine Der Spiegel in December, he came out in favor of "large-scale" deportations for rejected asylum applicants. 

In the first half of 2023, government figures show that 7,861 people were deported. A reform, dubbed the Repatriation Improvement Act, hopes to increase that number. Changes include an end to announcing deportations in advance and extending asylum detention to 28 days. Police will also have extended powers to search for those ordered to leave, and access their property, such as phones. 

Smugglers and other kinds of criminals, including those without convictions but suspected of criminal associations, could face faster deportations, as part of efforts to "more consistently and more quickly" act against "dangerous individuals," said Interior Minister Nancy Faeser.

More migration agreements 

Germany is also negotiating agreements with Georgia, Moldova, Kenya, Colombia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan, though these would not affect the majority of asylum-seekers who come from Syria, Afghanistan and Turkey. But the move is part of a larger effort to designate more countries as "safe countries of origin," which would permit Germany to return people to those places. Georgia and Moldova received this status in November.  

If the European Union revives its deal with Turkey, a move Germany supports, that could facilitate sending people there, as well. 

Germany also wants to process asylum applications faster. Right now, it can take more than two years to handle an asylum claim, according to government data. Proposed changes to the law hope to get that down to between three to six months. 

People going through the asylum procedure are also set to receive fewer benefits. Welfare payments, currently accessible after 18 months, will become available only after three years. Those living in state housing will also have the cost of their food deducted. 

Cards instead of cash for benefits

More German cities and states want to move to a card-based system for benefits, rather than bank payments, to prevent asylum-seekers from transferring the money to others, such as relatives in the country of origin.

Hannover, in central Germany, started its "social card" in December, which works like a normal bank debit card. Areas of the eastern state of Thuringia have also issued around 160 such cards for asylum-seekers. The cardholder must go to the district asylum office every month to top up the card.

Hamburg and Bavaria are set to follow suit with similar programs in 2024. 

More skilled labor immigration 

While conditions look to be getting harder for asylum-seekers, recent reforms hope to make life in Germany more attractive for skilled labor.

A points system, based on language proficiency and professional experience, would grant eligible immigrants a one-year visa, during which time they can search for a job. The income requirement has also been lowered, and it will be easier for the applicant to bring along more family members.  

The EU Blue Card is also to be expanded to cover sectors suffering from labor shortages, such as health care and education.

Starting in March, foreigners from outside the EU can come directly to Germany and start working while their qualifications are being approved. Workers will be able to stay up to three years, including with dependents, as long as they can prove they are able to support themselves.

The special immigration quota for people from countries in the western Balkans is also to be doubled to 50,000 people in June. 

This article was originally written in German.

While you're here: Every Tuesday, DW editors round up what is happening in German politics and society. You can sign up here for the weekly email newsletter Berlin Briefing.

Nigeria has recently seen the resurgence of a years-old rumor: The story goes that some Chinese companies are importing prisoners from China to work in Nigeria.

The rumor has been making the rounds among Nigerians, fed by a number of Nigerian officials, including Adams Oshiomhole, chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior.

"I have on good authority that prisoners from foreign land are working in Nigeria as construction workers," Oshiomhole said earlier this month. "I even believe and dare say it that there are foreign prisoners who are working in Nigeria. They were shipped to our country to serve their prison terms."

Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju, the newly inaugurated comptroller general of immigration, commented on the allegations last week, without agreeing or denying that prisoners had indeed been brought to Nigeria.

"Saying that Chinese prisoners are brought in and employed in their companies in Nigeria is very subjective," Adepoju said. "It is contrary to the international convention to name a particular race. However, before anybody comes into the country, they are subjected to thorough checks before issuing visa applications."

Such practice would not be tolerated, Adepoju said, stressing that "there is a new sheriff in town."

However often the practice of bringing prisoners to Nigeria is reiterated, proof is hard to come by. Nigerian economist and public policy expert Zuhumnan Dapel spoke with DW about the difficulties of providing facts.

"Immigration, they are law enforcement. They bear firearms to enforce the law," Dapel told DW. "[Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju is] part of Nigeria's national security team. So she will have more information than the common man on the street — but I cannot verify this as an individual."

Nigeria: no place for foreign prisoners

Provided this was actually taking place, legal experts leave no doubt that there is no basis for such a practice.

"The Nigerian labor law, the international labor law and its conventions and the Nigerian Immigration Act — there is nowhere the laws contemplate a foreign prisoner to be given a work permit and to be accorded the status of a worker of a foreign company in Nigeria," Zakari Sokga, a Kaduna-based lawyer, told DW.

"There is also no bilateral arrangement between any foreign country and Nigeria to legitimize prisoners serving prison terms in their own country for whatever crime to come into Nigeria as employees of a foreign company. Such a practice is illegal and it cannot be defended in law".

Zuhumnan Dapel said such instances required action by the comptroller general of immigration. "If Chinese prisoners find their way to Nigeria through the back door, they don't have rights or work permits to work. That's illegitimate, and as the chief immigration officer in the country, it is her [Caroline Wura-Ola Adepoju] job to clamp down on illegal immigrants coming to work in the country."

Why are rumors about Chinese convicts spreading?

Social scientist and China expert Barry Sautman has been looking into rumors of Chinese prisoners working in various African countries for more than a decade. They are persistent in Nigeria and Zambia, but also circulate in countries like Tanzania or Angola, Sautman told DW. During his enquiries, however, he has not been able to produce any hard facts to prove such a practice.

"Not a single person has ever confirmed any aspect of it," said Sautman. The Hong Kong-based academic, who is renowned for his thorough research, has also been subject to criticism for holding views close to the line of the Chinese administration.

Chinese businessmen found talk of prisoners sent to Africa to be unimaginable, according to Sautman. "Of course they have all kinds of problems in terms of bringing their personnel to Africa. And those problems are bad enough with bringing people who are free laborers. To bring somebody who is a convict and have to manage and secure that person — to them is just comical."

One cause of the rumor, Sautman suggested, is the kind of gated and secured compounds found across Africa where Chinese workers live. "Some Africans who I speak to about it have seen these kind of compounds and they think 'this looks like a prison to us'. They also know that in some cases companies will bring their workers out as a group to go shopping, they have entertainment… and then they come back."

Politics behind the allegations in Nigeria

To understand the dynamics behind the narrative of Chinese prisoners working in African countries, the timing can be key. "These allegations most of the time rear their heads during election cycles," said economist Zuhumnan Dapel. "Nigeria was due to elect its next president in 2019, that was when these allegations came up."

At the time there were protests by unemployed Nigerian graduates, Dapel explained. "These protests were obviously that 'you're taking over the jobs we should be doing.'"

Four years later, the argument still circulates. "It's more-or-less like you're making people who can carry out the job effectively, you're making them redundant," one woman in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, told DW. "Why do you get people who are in prison to come and serve in another country? I think it's unfair."

This holds for other African countries as well, said Sautman. "In those African countries where the opposition has made China an issue, the idea that there are Chinese prisoners taking jobs away from local people, that's something that might be useful in their political discourse," he added.

He mentioned from his research in Zambia that several opposition figures who opposed Chinese dominance on the continent loosened their stance once they were in government.

Chinese companies have strong presence in Africa

One major reason for the outcry, it seems, is the strong presence of Chinese companies across Africa, companies that are known to contract workers from China. According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University in the US state of Maryland, the number of Chinese (contracted or hired) workers peaked at 12,199 in 2019 — the year the allegations of Chinese companies bringing convicts to Nigeria first made the rounds.

This, together with a perceived lack of transparency in Sino-Africa cooperation, may have laid the ground for the debate to spring up.

"What leaders owe to their people is to be telling the truth, to be transparent," said Dapel. "When there are gray areas people try to understand the unknown, and in an attempt to understand the unknown, they come up with conspiracy theories. And to give no room for conspiracy theories is to come out clean."

Dapel also pointed to the fact, irritating for many, that Chinese companies have a record of outbidding local and international competitors — although, as he explained, China's minimum wage is roughly seven times higher than that of Nigeria.

Sautman, the Hong Kong-based expert, however, has a reason for that. "A lot of Chinese companies don't have the same conception of profits," he pointed out. Whereas Western companies often expected projects to produce at least 30% profit, things are different for Chinese bidders, he said.

"Five to 10% profit is just fine because in the Chinese market, the range of profit is anywhere between 1 and 4%."

Ben Adam Shemang in Abuja contributed to this report.

Edited by: Benita van Eyssen

It's been over a year since French President Emmanuel Macron pledged that his government would aim to implement a "balanced" reform to immigration laws. The aim was to have a law that would prevent irregular migration and facilitate the deportation of asylum-seekers whose claims had been rejected, but that would also encourage the integration of working migrants.

However, in the parliamentary elections in the summer of 2022, Macron's governing coalition lost its absolute majority in France's National Assembly. The second parliamentary chamber is already dominated by the center-right Republicans (Les Republicains), who have shifted further rightward in recent years, under pressure from the far-right National Rally led by Marine Le Pen.

The Senate had already removed a central point of the reform early on in the proceedings. Migrants will not be granted permanent residency in France, even if they find jobs in industries with a shortage of workers. The government then had to make further difficult concessions in the joint committee consisting of seven senators and seven deputies.

The new immigration law will put France on the same anti-migration course that has recently been adopted by other European states, notably the Nordic countries.

French citizens prioritized for social benefits

The government has made significant concessions to the conservative opposition parties, especially on residence permits and access to social benefits. People without employment will have to wait five years before they become eligible for child benefit, the enforceable right to housing or personal support for freelancers. For immigrants with jobs, the waiting period will be two-and-a-half years.

Access to housing benefits was a particular bone of contention between the governing parties and the Republicans.

Foreigners from outside the EU will now only be eligible for housing benefits when they have been resident in France for five years. However, those who have a job, are studying or who are recognized asylum-seekers will receive this support after three months' residency.

Little relief for the 'sans papiers'

Migrants without residence permits — so-called sans papiers — are often the subject of heated debate in France. The rules are being tightened for them as well.

State representatives in the French regions (prefects) will in future have the authority to grant residence permits to these individuals, if they are working in occupations where there is a labor shortage, have been living in France for at least three years and have been employed for at least the past 12 months. However, the residence permits will only be valid for one year.

One concession from the opposition to the government is that employees will be able to apply for this residence permit without having to obtain their employer's consent. The "sans-papiers reform" is initially being classified as an experiment, applicable only until 2026.

Being in France irregularly will once again become a criminal offense, punishable by one year in prison and a fine of €3,750 ($4,105). The Republicans' party leader, Eric Ciotti, received assurances from Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin that he would expedite the construction of deportation centers. Eleven new "administrative reception centers" are due to open in France by 2027.

Caps on immigration

Although the government considers it unconstitutional for parliament to impose quotas on immigration, the compromise law does include such a regulation for the next three years. The cap will apply to non-EU foreigners — with an exemption for asylum-seekers. Many politicians in both the presidential camp and the left-wing opposition hope the Constitutional Council will overturn this regulation upon review.

In the Senate on Tuesday evening, Darmanin, who himself was previously a member of the Republicans, described some parts of the law as unconstitutional. President Macron also seems to have doubts.

Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne said in a radio interview: "The president will appeal to the Constitutional Council, and the Constitutional Council will determine where things stand."

Restricted access to citizenship

Foreign citizens born in France will no longer automatically receive French citizenship when they reach adulthood. They will have to apply for it between the ages of 16 and 18. Anyone convicted of a crime will no longer be naturalized.

Dual citizens can have their French citizenship revoked if they are convicted of the deliberate homicide of a public official. This regulation is intended to protect state employees such as police officers, firefighters and teachers.

Additionally, lawmakers have resolved on stricter rules for family reunification, and decreed that students will have to pay a deposit to cover the costs of potential deportation. Access to health insurance is also being made more difficult for foreigners.

Reactions to the reform

Marine Le Pen, the National Rally (RN) leader, described the compromise as an "ideological victory" for her party, and immediately announced that her parliamentary group had approved it.

"National priority status — that is, preference given to French people over foreigners for certain social benefits — is now finally law," said Le Pen, whose party currently leads in the polls. All 88 RN deputies voted for the new law in the French National Assembly on Tuesday night, as did the Republicans' 62 deputies.

The presidential camp would not have had a majority without the support of the right-wingers. Twenty-seven deputies from the governing parties voted against the tougher immigration laws, while 32 abstained. After the vote, Health Minister Aurelien Rousseau resigned in protest. The consequences of tensions in the government camp will likely become apparent over the coming days.

On the other side of the political spectrum, the left-wing opposition accused the government of a "total loss of dignity" if it passed the law with the support of the Republicans and the National Rally. Migrants and refugees, who see the reform as introducing new and harsher measures, had protested against the plans.

This article was originally written in German.

The abrupt departure of thousands of undocumented Afghans has left Bibi Jawzara, an elderly Pakistani woman, "really worried."

For decades, she has relied on Afghan migrants to tend her farm in the southwestern province of Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan. But with Pakistani officials launching an effort to expel some 1.7 million undocumented Afghans last month, the septuagenarian has been struggling to find skilled workers to prune and fertilize apple trees and grapevines on her land.

"The crucial fertilizer time is upon me but I don't have enough workers for this job," she told DW. "As my sons and grandsons live in cities for business and education, Afghan refugees cared for our orchards for years. But now as they suddenly left for home to avoid deportation, we find ourselves in a real predicament."

Afghans going back after decades in Pakistan

Jawzara used to employ members of five Afghan Pashtun families, who fled their country after the Soviet invasion in 1979. Refugee women used to do chores in her house and men worked in fields, with the Pakistani woman and two of her sons supervising and helping them.

Even with new generations in the small community born and raised in Pakistan, they tended to live on Jawzara's farmland and be dependent on their employer for food, health care and other needs.

But the recent anti-immigrant clampdown has changed everything.

Most undocumented Afghans in Pakistan were living in Balochistan and northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces — both bordering Afghanistan — and never felt residency documents were necessary, with their lives limited to their areas.

Earlier this year, the Pakistani government declared the presence of undocumented migrants to be both a security and economic challenge. Hundreds of thousands have already been expelled or left on their own.

And, despite Pakistani officials pledging that 2.3 million legal Afghan migrants were free to remain as long as their papers are valid, more than a few documented migrants also returned to their home country. They feared that Pakistan would soon try to deport them as well, and warned that the authorities look determined to send all Afghans — whether documented or undocumented — home.

Afghan workers, Pakistani employers caught 'off guard'

Afghan laborers have a reputation of being cheap, skilled and hardworking. They are also in a vulnerable position due to their living on foreign soil. The mass exodus has now sparked labor shortages in sectors like agriculture and mining in Pakistan's border areas.

"Orders for [undocumented] migrants to leave caught our Afghan workers, as well as us, off guard. Neither were they mentally prepared to go away on short notice, nor did we have any idea of what to do without them," said Jahangir Shah, who owns a coal mine in Balochistan's Duki district.

Afghans make up 60% of Shah's employees. The repatriation effort, according to the mine owner, forced him to briefly suspend mining operations. Even after the work was resumed with extended shifts, production was very slow due to labor shortages. Shah fears production targets will not be met.

"Our bids to return to normal face challenges, especially the unavailability of skilled workers," he told DW, adding that workers from other areas are "not coming in despite offers of better payment."

Trouble for Afghanistan

Pashtuns are the dominant ethnic group in Afghanistan, with millions of them also living in Pakistan. Sardar Muhammad Shafiq Tareen, a Pashtun serving as a senator in Pakistan's Balochistan, warns that almost 80% of workers in the mines and farms across the province were Afghan people.

The exodus of Afghans will also stop remittances from Pakistan into Afghanistan, harming the latter's economic development, he said. The war-ravaged country is already facing a massive crisis following the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Tareen echoed the concerns of many activists and international organizations, noting that Afghans were given very little time to return to their home country despite spending years or decades on the other side of the border. Speaking with DW, he questioned the Pakistani government narrative that most departures were voluntary.

'Doom scenario' for local mining industry

Various political parties and trader associations have been protesting government policies since October 20 by staging a sit-in in the border town of Chaman. They have opposed visa restrictions in the wake of the anti-migrant clampdown.

Pir Muhammad Kakar, general secretary of the Balochistan chapter of the Pakistan Workers' Federation, pointed out that more than half of Afghans working in the province's mines had left, causing a "doom scenario" for the local mining industry, the largest income generator for the province.

Kakar said mine owners recently met caretaker Interior Minister Sarfraz Bugti — himself a Balochistan native — who pledged to ensure that Afghan mine workers aren't unduly bothered. The minister also promised a proper policy to enable the workers to continue their employment, but this promise has yet to be fulfilled, according to Kakar.

Edited by: Darko Janjevic