The migration crisis is changing attitudes toward refugees for the worse, and attacks on housing intended for newcomers are becoming commonplace.
According to a Deutschland Trend opinion poll, regularly conducted on behalf of the German public broadcaster ARD, concern about the constantly growing number of refugees arriving in Germany has noticeably increased over the past month. Now a majority—51%—answer in the affirmative when asked whether they are frightened by the fact that so many asylum seekers are coming to Germany. Just a month ago, the influx of refugees into Germany frightened only 38% of its residents.
Skepticism toward immigrants is also growing: only 35% of respondents answered positively to the question of whether immigration benefits Germany—10% less than at the beginning of September. 44% of the country's population believe that immigration is disadvantageous for Germany—11% more than a month ago.
These emerging trends are causing Germans more and more doubts. Traditionally, xenophobia is not manifested where there are many immigrants, but where there are few—in the new federal states or in rural areas. But verbal xenophobia is just the prelude to the main problem. Some residents of both eastern and western German states are moving from discussions to active protests, and marginal groups are expressing their dissatisfaction with the influx of immigrants through action.
Sebnitz, Chemnitz, and Görlitz are just three of the localities in eastern Germany where mass protests against the arrival of refugees took place over the past weekend. In a number of German cities and villages, protesters are not limited to rallies and demonstrations, often turning to violence—from property damage to attacks on foreigners. Gotha and Bischhagen (Thuringia), Xanten (North Rhine-Westphalia)—here, in recent days, dormitories intended for those who have applied for political asylum in Germany have been set on fire. Over the past month and a half, there have been disgracefully many similar incidents.
"Russkaya Germaniya" published a list of recent excesses:
• Espelkamp (Lower Saxony), August 24—arson of a container complex intended to house refugees. According to police, unknown persons lit several fires directly under the windows of the temporary apartments.
• Sulzbach (Baden-Württemberg), August 25—youth throw stones at a refugee dormitory. Police detain a 27-year-old young man; later two suspects aged 16 and 19 turn themselves in.
• Parchim (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), August 25—two drunken young men enter the territory of a refugee dormitory. Security guards neutralize the intruders; one had a knife with a 20-centimeter blade. The blood alcohol content of both attackers exceeded 2 per mille.
• Salzgitter (Lower Saxony), August 28 (note: original says Salzgitter but text says Salzgitter? Actually 'Зальцхеммендорф' might be Salzgitter? But later says 'Зальцхеммендорф' - likely Salzgitter or similar? Check: 'Зальцхеммендорф' is Salzgitter? Actually it's 'Salzhemmendorf'? Standard transliteration: Зальцхеммендорф = Salzhemmendorf. But context says 'Нижняя Саксония' = Lower Saxony, so Salzhemmendorf is correct. I will use Salzhemmendorf)--Unknown persons throw a Molotov cocktail through the window of an apartment where a family from Zimbabwe lives. No one is injured; the mother and three children receive psychological assistance. The apartment building houses refugees from 30 countries. Soon police make arrests: arrest warrants are issued for two men from near Hamelin and a 23-year-old woman from Hanover. The men, aged 24 and 30, had contacts with the right-wing extremist scene.
• Helbra (Saxony-Anhalt), August 29—eight unknown men climb over the fence of a refugee dormitory and pelt the building's facade with bottles and stones, breaking one window. No residents are injured. A few hours before the attack, 15 refugees from Syria were housed in the building on the edge of an industrial zone.
• Witten (North Rhine-Westphalia), September 3—unknown persons set fire to a vacant building intended to house refugees. At the fire scene, police find remains of containers used for incendiary mixture.
• Ebeleben (Thuringia), September 7—attics of three houses where refugees were planned to be housed catch fire. No casualties, police consider arson.
• Gerstungen (Thuringia), September 11—a house whose owner intended to provide it to refugees burns down. The investigation proceeds under the assumption of arson and does not rule out xenophobia as a motive.
• Will (North Rhine-Westphalia), September 12—arson of a train standing on a siding; the cars are spray-painted with Nazi slogans. Preparations are underway in the town to house refugees in old railway cars.
• Bischofswerda (Saxony), September 18—right-wing extremists block the entrances to a refugee dormitory, chant nationalist slogans, and throw a bottle at a bus carrying newcomers. The refugees are able to be housed in the dormitory under police protection.
• Riedlingen (Baden-Württemberg), September 20—two garbage containers near a refugee dormitory are set on fire; unknown persons paint swastikas and Nazi slogans on the building.
• Laage (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern), September 20—the attic of a building intended to house refugees catches fire. The main line of investigation is arson.
• Wertheim (Baden-Württemberg), September 20—unknown persons set fire to a sports hall intended to house refugees. Police find signs of break-in. The building is damaged to the extent that further use is impossible.
• Bremen (Bremen), September 26—unknown persons douse tents intended for refugees (not yet occupied) with an incendiary mixture. Fire presumably spreads on its own: the tents burn without arson.
• Oberteuringen (Baden-Württemberg), September 29—fire in former production and storage premises where refugees were to be housed shortly. The main line of investigation is arson.
• Bischhagen (Thuringia), October 3 – on the night from Saturday to Sunday, a building intended for refugees catches fire, which was supposed to be occupied on Monday. Police do not rule out a technical defect as the cause of the fire – work was still being carried out in the building on Saturday. Material damage amounts to 100,000 euros.
• Friemar, Gotha district (Thuringia), October 4 – unknown persons set fire to a gymnasium occupied by refugees. The facade of the dormitory is scorched, no casualties.
• Xanten (North Rhine-Westphalia), October 4 – arson of a former school building where refugees were to be accommodated. On the first floor of the burned building, traces of an incendiary mixture were found, and a gas cylinder was discovered in the basement. Mayor of Xanten Thomas Herz promises that the incident 'will not make us abandon plans to house refugees in the former school building.'
• Saalfeld (Thuringia), October 5 – after a fire in a refugee dormitory, the body of a 29-year-old man from Eritrea was found. The causes of the fire and the death have not yet been determined; the other residents of the burned floor were evacuated in time. In March, 13 people were injured in a fire at a dormitory in the same city.