Germany
registered a record surge in crimes by right-wing radicals last year, with
attacks on refugee centres rising more than five-fold, Interior Minister Thomas
de Maiziere said on Monday.
Presenting
the annual
crime report, de Maiziere said politically-motivated crimes by the
far-right had risen 35 percent in 2015 to nearly 23,000, the highest level
since the government began keeping such statistics in 2001.
“The sharp increase in politically
motivated crime points to a dangerous development in society,” de Maiziere
told reporters at a news conference. “We are witnessing a growing and
increasingly pronounced readiness to use violence, both by right- and left-wing
extremists.”
Overall,
the number of politically motivated crimes rose by 19 percent to nearly 39,000.
Within that category, violent crimes such as assaults and attempted murders
rose 31 percent, led by a 44 percent increase in attacks by right-wingers.
Violent
crimes by left-wingers rose by 35 percent.
Attacks
on refugee shelters surged to 1,031, compared to 199 in the prior year, and 923
of them were attributed to the far-right. De Maiziere said these numbers were
likely to rise again this year, with 347 such attacks registered in the first
quarter of 2016 alone.
