Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

IMMIGRATION

Prestigious French uni offers English courses to migrants

One of Paris’ most renowned higher-education establishments is offering free language courses to refugees as part of an integration scheme thought up by the university's students.

Published: 8 March 2016 10:53 CET
Prestigious French uni offers English courses to migrants
Photo: AFP

The course at the Paris Institute of Political Studies – often referred to simply as Sciences Po – began on Monday, with twenty migrants taking part.

The students are aged between 20 and 40 years and are originally from Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan, with most already holding university qualifications from their own countries.

The aim is to help the migrants integrate in French society, but rather than just offering French classes, the university has decided to give the group of migrants the choice between French or English.

A spokeswoman for the university told The Local: “Most of the students we took on speak English so English language courses were offered because it was important to consolidate their level in this language.

“Secondly if they master English they will have a wider choice of courses to follow at Sciences Po, because many of them are taught only in English.”
 
As well as joining the language courses, the migrants can also benefit from access to the university’s teaching resources, including the libraries and online materials, as well as extra-curricular activities such as sports clubs, societies and student events.

The scheme is set to last until June but if it is judged successful it could be repeated in 2017.

Language barriers are often cited as an obstacle to integration and employment for migrants and refugees arriving in Europe. 

In France, there are no official language classes for new migrants run by the French state, but several charities and volunteer groups have offered French and English lessons in the country's refugee camps like the 'Jungle' near Calais.

However, if migrants are granted refugee status or asylum in France, they can enter into an “integration” contract with the state under which they receive free language classes for one year.

Sciences Po is known for its intensive programmes and has been a breeding ground for French leaders, with current president François Hollande and ex-president François Mitterand among its alumni.

Former President Nicolas Sarkozy also unrolled at Sciences Po, but he failed to graduate because his level of English wasn't deemed good enough.

CRIME

Germany mulls expulsions to Afghanistan after knife attack

Germany said Tuesday it was considering allowing deportations to Afghanistan, after an asylum seeker from the country injured five and killed a police officer in a knife attack.

Published: 4 June 2024 14:50 CEST
Germany mulls expulsions to Afghanistan after knife attack

Officials had been carrying out an “intensive review for several months… to allow the deportation of serious criminals and dangerous individuals to Afghanistan”, Interior Minister Nancy Faeser told journalists.

“It is clear to me that people who pose a potential threat to Germany’s security must be deported quickly,” Faeser said.

“That is why we are doing everything possible to find ways to deport criminals and dangerous people to both Syria and Afghanistan,” she said.

Deportations to Afghanistan from Germany have been completely stopped since the Taliban retook power in 2021.

But a debate over resuming expulsions has resurged after a 25-year-old Afghan was accused of attacking people with a knife at an anti-Islam rally in the western city of Mannheim on Friday.

A police officer, 29, died on Sunday after being repeatedly stabbed as he tried to intervene in the attack.

Five people taking part in a rally organised by Pax Europa, a campaign group against radical Islam, were also wounded.

Friday’s brutal attack has inflamed a public debate over immigration in the run up to European elections and prompted calls to expand efforts to expel criminals.

READ ALSO: Tensions high in Mannheim after knife attack claims life of policeman

The suspect, named in the media as Sulaiman Ataee, came to Germany as a refugee in March 2013, according to reports.

Ataee, who arrived in the country with his brother at the age of only 14, was initially refused asylum but was not deported because of his age, according to German daily Bild.

Ataee subsequently went to school in Germany, and married a German woman of Turkish origin in 2019, with whom he has two children, according to the Spiegel weekly.

Per the reports, Ataee was not seen by authorities as a risk and did not appear to neighbours at his home in Heppenheim as an extremist.

Anti-terrorism prosecutors on Monday took over the investigation into the incident, as they looked to establish a motive.

SHOW COMMENTS