Spotlight: Frequent attacks highlight refugee crisis in Germany

The explosion in the southern German town of Ansbach late Sunday is found to be an intentional act by a 27-year-old Syrian refugee. The third act of refugee-related violence within a week is expected to highlight a dilemma on the refugee issue for the German government.

The man believed to carry an explosive device was killed while 12 others were injured, three of them seriously, in the blast that took place at the entrance area of a local open-air music festival where about 2,500 people gathered.

The young refugee is found to have tried twice to kill himself. "We do not know at the moment whether the offender purely wanted to commit suicide or whether his intention was to take other people into death," said Joachim Herrmann, interior minister of Bavaria state, early Monday morning.

Earlier on Sunday, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee was arrested in an assault believed to be a crime of passion, in which a woman was killed and two other people were injured in the southwestern German city of Reutlingen.

The Sunday incidents occurred within a week after an axe attack by a 17-year-old Afghan refugee on a train left five people injured near Wurzburg in southern Germany. The perpetrator was shot dead by police, and the attack was confirmed to be connected with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

The incidents, all connected to refugees, are expected to further feed the arguments in European countries that refugees are a source of increasing terrorism.

They also highlight a mounting refugee crisis in Germany and other European countries by heightening social insecurity, not to mention increasing pressures on public services and jobs market, which were the major argument for Britons to vote in June to quit the European Union.

As it can hardly stop refugee inflows from war-ravaged regions, the question raised in Germany is more about government policy.

Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer has demanded a guaranteed disconnection of asylum seekers with the IS group for a tougher control over refugees. The call from the leader of the key partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition is expected to exert more pressure upon the government's open-door refugee policy.

Put to test is also Germany's public security. Some German politicians reckon an estimated 3,000 personnel are needed to beef up the security force in order to cope with the increasing number of refugees and immigrants. In 2015, immigrants to Germany surpassed 2 million in total, an increase of 700,000 over the previous year, showed official data.

The social and cultural integration of immigrants is another issue to draw public attention again. The axe-waving attacker in the July 18 assault had lived in Germany for more than a year, but had apparently received more influence from the IS group.

Many acts of terrorism in Western countries are carried out in revenge for the countries' intervention in regional hot spots. In this regard, Germany's more international responsibilities and more military involvement are expected to make it more prone to terrorism. Endi