- Police report fewer attacks on refugees
Police Records Fewer Attacks on Refugees and Asylum Seekers in First Half of 2024
Provisional figures show that the police have registered fewer incidents against refugees and asylum seekers in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year. Nationwide, there were a total of 519 such cases in the first and second quarters of this year. This is according to a response from the Federal Government to a minor inquiry by the Left party in the Bundestag, which was obtained by the "New Osnabruecker Zeitung" (NOZ) and the German Press Agency (dpa). In the first half of last year, the police recorded 1,155 such incidents - in the whole of 2023, there were 2,450.
However, the Federal Ministry of the Interior explicitly states in its response that the 2024 figures are provisional and could still change significantly due to follow-up and correction reports. It is also unclear whether the cases involve completed or ongoing federal and state investigations.
The incidents in question are attacks against asylum seekers and refugees outside of refugee accommodations, and crimes such as incitement to hatred, coercion, and dangerous bodily harm. In the first half of 2024, 46 people were injured, including six children, as stated in the response. The majority of the incidents - a total of 456 - are attributed to the right-wing scene by the police. Additionally, there were 69 attacks on refugee accommodations.
According to information from the NOZ, there is a regional focus of these crimes in Saxony and Thuringia, where state elections are scheduled for September 1. Of the 286 attacks on refugees nationwide in the second quarter of 2024, the most occurred in Saxony (41) and Thuringia (35), followed by Bavaria (31), Lower Saxony (30), and Brandenburg (29). Single-digit figures were recorded in Baden-Württemberg and Berlin (each 8), Bremen, Hamburg, and Hesse (each 2), and Schleswig-Holstein (5).
Left politician Bünger sees political responsibility
"For a long time, it has been known that there is a close connection between racist slogans uttered by politicians and racist mobilizations and attacks on the streets," said Clara Bünger, the Left party's member of the Bundestag, to the "New Osnabruecker Zeitung".
"When right-wingers in parliament demand 'remigration' and even government members blame refugees for all kinds of societal problems, announce mass deportations, or refer to asylum seekers as 'invasions', as has happened in the UK, racists feel empowered to go on a 'human hunt' and terrorize refugees," Bünger said.
When right-wing extremists use the term "remigration", they usually mean that a large number of people of foreign origin should leave the country - even by force.
The decrease in injury to body cases against refugees and asylum seekers in the first half of 2024 is still provisional and subject to change. However, the response from the Federal Government reveals that 46 individuals, including six children, have sustained injuries in these incidents.
