Spotlight: Germany sees growing anti-refugee violence amid record migrant wave

Germany is bracing for an unprecedented influx of up to 800,000 asylum seekers this year as Europe grapples with its biggest migrant crisis since the Second World War.

While many believe that Germany's wealth means the country has a unique responsibility to provide safety to the displaced, not everyone is happy to see refugee centers springing up across the country.

In recent months, Germany has seen a growing hostility toward refugees. A spate of arson attacks have hit shelters used for accommodating asylum seekers, and far-right extremists have organized xenophobic demonstrations against refugees.

In this context, the eastern German town of Heidenau has become the focus of Germany's struggle to absorb the massive arrivals.

The town has suffered several nights of riots from anti-asylum seekers when a new refugee shelter opened earlier this month. Dozens of police officers were reportedly injured in clashes with far-right protesters opposing the opening of the center.

The violence frightened refugees living there. Two asylum seekers from Yemen told media that they were threatened by right-wing extremists and wanted to leave the town which they once thought could become their new home.

When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited the refugee center last week to show her support, she was booed by a crowd of extremists who called her a "traitor".

According to the German government, Germany is currently receiving 40 percent of all refugees in the European Union. The country is struggling to find enough space to accommodate the new arrivals.

German Labor Minister Andrea Nahles said Wednesday that at least 1.8 to 3.3 billion euros (2 to 3.7 billion U.S. dollars) would be needed to handle the record numbers of asylum seekers.

Germany's domestic intelligence chief Hans-Georg Maassen warned on Wednesday that the ever-increasing need for refugee homes was also causing the rise of right-wing extremism in Germany.

He cautioned that "there is a connection between the number of attacks (on refugee centers) and the number of people in the NPD."

The far-right National Democratic Party (NPD) has never crossed the 5-percent threshold necessary to be represented in Germany's federal parliament, but has managed to gain representation at a state level many times. A bid to have the party outlawed failed in 2003.

The message from the German government is a loud and determined "No" to anti-refugee violence. Speaking at her summer press conference on Monday in Berlin, Merkel called for sympathy for refugees and warned German citizens not to take part in anti-migrant demonstrations.

Politicians from across the political spectrum have condemned the recent violence committed by far-right demonstrators and their supporters, vowing that Germany does not tolerate xenophobia or racism targeting asylum seekers.

Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel called for firm actions against people committing attacks on refugees, as has Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere, who promised to bring the "full force of the law" against perpetrators of anti-refugee violence.

In addition, leading German politicians, including German President Joachim Gauck, Merkel and Gabriel have visited refugee homes in a show of support for the migrants.

While a "dark Germany" behind the series of xenophobic attacks was blasted by German leaders, migrants arrived in the country have also seen a "bright Germany" in the help provided by many volunteers and original people.

Local people came into Munich's main train station on Tuesday to donate food, water and other supplies to those in need as over 1,000 refugees arrived in the Bavarian capital from Hungary by train.

In Dresden,capital of the eastern German state of Saxony,thousands took to the streets on Saturday to take a stand against xenophobic attacks, following a string of violent anti-migrant protests in the region.

German media and many celebrities have also come out in support of refugees by offering practical guide for how to help the new arrivals and mobilizing charity campaign to assist them.

The recent riots in Germany against shelters housing or due to house refugees are not new to the country. They remind Wolfgang Richter, former commissioner for foreigners in the German city Rostock, of those terrible nights in August of 1992.

Right-wing extremists stormed a home for asylum seekers in the city and set fire to a building housing mainly Vietnamese workers. These were the worst mob attacks against migrants in postwar Germany.

Richter, who has spent years thinking of ways to combat xenophobia, suggested in an interview with Deutsche Welle that the location of homes for asylum seekers should be chosen very carefully.

In a bid to eliminate the insecurities of locals, Richter added that it's also important to organize meetings with local residents to introduce the plans of setting up refugee shelters.

Day care, school education as well as jobs and language training, which go beyond the initial care and accommodation of refugees, are also needed for a better integration of the migrants, he said. Endit