Incidents of politically motivated crimes against refugee shelters have increased in 2024, according to a recent response from the Federal Ministry of the Interior to a question from the Left Party in the German Bundestag.
In the past year, the police registered 218 such incidents, in which refugee shelters were either the target or the scene of the crime. This is a rise from the 167 incidents reported in 2023.
Of the 218 incidents, 28 were violent crimes, resulting in 14 people being injured, including a child, according to the ministry’s list.
In contrast, the number of politically motivated crimes against refugees outside of shelters has slightly decreased, with the authorities registering 1,905 incidents, including 237 violent crimes, by the end of the year. In 2023, there were 2,450 incidents and it is likely that the number for 2024 will continue to rise as more reports from the fourth quarter are expected to be filed.
The number of politically motivated crimes against refugee shelters has also been regularly revised upward, as has been the case with the third quarter’s figures, which were later found to be four times higher.
“The number of insults, threats and attacks against refugees is deeply concerning and it is appalling that this state of affairs is tolerated by large parts of the political and public spheres” said Clara Bünger, the refugee policy spokesperson for the Left Party in the Bundestag, to the RND. “These are people who are seeking refuge in Germany and what they find are racist insults and violence. We must never get used to this.