The most recent arson attack on a planned refugee accommodation in Bautzen brings back memories of 2015 and 2016 in Saxony. The Left and the Refugee Council are warning of a new wave of attacks and protests.
Bautzen/Dresden (dpa/sn) – Left-wing politician Kerstin Köditz increasingly fears attacks on refugees in Saxony and has called on the state government to act. “Not only is there a similar wave of attacks and attacks as six or seven years ago, but this wave has already caught up with us,” said the interior expert of her party of the German Press Agency. “The current accumulation of deeds cannot be dismissed out of hand.” For example, last Friday, unknown persons smashed the windows of the former “Spreehotel” in Bautzen and set fire there. The police counter-terrorism and extremism center is investigating serious arson.
From the beginning of November, the house should be available as accommodation for refugees. That is not foreseeable for the time being, said a spokeswoman for the district office. Unknowns had recently attacked an accommodation in Leipzig. According to the police, a political motive cannot be ruled out there either.
“We are now observing a comparable dynamic of stimulating protests from right-wing milieus, where people are apparently also prepared to resort to harsher means – and again the violence is directed against migrants,” said Köditz. The problem should not be downplayed, it now needs “high pressure to investigate and consistent criminal prosecution”.
According to the Ministry of the Interior, refugee accommodation in use or planned in the Free State is now being given increased protection against the background of the current events – among other things by more police patrols on site. If necessary, special protective measures could also be taken, it said.
From the Interior Ministry’s point of view, the current situation is not comparable to 2015. “Along with the sharp increase in the influx of asylum seekers in 2015, the number of crimes motivated by xenophobia also increased significantly,” said a spokeswoman. However, since 2016 there has been a downward trend. According to the Ministry of the Interior, a total of 819 criminal offenses were registered in Saxony in 2015. Last year there were 473 xenophobic crimes registered, according to provisional figures for this year by mid-October.
In 2015 and 2016 there were increased attacks on refugee accommodation and protests against accommodation in the Free State – including an attempted arson attack on the “Spreehotel” in Bautzen in December 2016. Molotov cocktails were thrown onto the site, and refugees were also staying there at the time. The Saxon town of Heidenau hit the headlines in August 2015 after days of massive riots by right-wing extremists in front of a refugee camp. In the Einsiedel district of Chemnitz, there had been protests for months against the reception of refugees on site.
Now the state directorate wants to house asylum-seeking families with children from crisis and war zones in a former pioneer camp in Chemnitz-Einsiedel. After the announcement, an unregistered protest march with around 250 participants formed on October 19, according to the police.
In recent months, the authorities have registered a sharp increase in the number of migrants arriving in Saxony via the so-called Balkan route. Interior Minister Armin Schuster (CDU) had repeatedly warned against being overwhelmed by the accommodation and called for the refugees to be distributed fairly to other federal states.
“Unfortunately, we are observing with concern an increase in right-wing extremist demonstrations in Saxony in front of or in the immediate vicinity of refugee accommodation,” said Dave Schmidtke from the Saxon Refugee Council. After the pandemic seemed less relevant, the enemy image of the refugees came back into focus. “It’s easy for them, because large parts of the population are currently very insecure due to inflation and rising energy prices.” The refugee council appealed to show solidarity with refugees and to create more opportunities for decentralized accommodation. Arriving and integrating are much faster than in mass accommodation.
