Germany alarmed by growing anti-refugee violence

Germany has announced it will accept 800,000 asylum seekers this year, but not everyone is happy to see refugee centers across the country. In recent months, Germany has seen growing violence against refugees. While right-wing extremists have organized xenophobic demonstrations against refugees, the rate of the criminal attack against asylum seekers have also increased.

“We are witnessing a massive increase in xenophobic attacks on asylum seekers” said Thomas de Maiziere, Germany's interior minister, in an interview with the Berliner Morgenpost newspaper on Tuesday. Remarking on the dramatic rise of asylum seekers in the country he said, “This year, more than 490 criminal attacks have been committed against asylum centers.”

One of the attacks on refugees was the marching in eastern German town of Heidenau for a new refugee shelter that opened earlier this month. In the demonstration of far-right protesters opposing the opening of the center, dozens of police officers were injured.

Meanwhile, Alternative for Germany (AfD), the German right-wing party, accused Merkel of "people smuggling" for allowing thousands of asylum seekers into the country on Friday. Alexander Gauland, AfD deputy leader, claimed Germany's absorption capacity has already exceeded and accused Merkel by saying “Angela Merkel has operated as a smuggler."

Following this, Merkel's spokesman Steffen Seibert made an announcement stating that Germany was governed by the rule of law and citizens were free to make legal complaints.

In 2014, however, there were 162 attacks by right-wing extremists in Germany on the accommodations of asylum seekers, which is threefold higher than the number of such incidents in the previous year.