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CRIME

Attacks on refugee homes still taking place almost daily: report

The number of attacks on refugee homes has dropped sharply since the height of the refugee crisis. But so far this year crimes have included arson and the detonation of explosives.

Attacks on refugee homes still taking place almost daily: report
An arson attack on a refugee shelter in December 2016. Photo: DPA

In the first nine months of this year, 211 attacks took place against refugee shelters in Germany, according to Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) statistics published by the Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Monday.

By October 23rd that number had risen to 226 attacks, 213 of which are believed to have had a right-wing motive behind them.

Broken down, the figures show that 74 of the crimes were property damage, 71 involved the spraying of graffiti, 32 were cases of physical assault, 12 were cases of arson, and two involved the detonation of explosives.

More attacks have been counted so far this year than in the whole of 2014, the year before the refugee crisis began, when a total of 199 were recorded.

Nevertheless the number of attacks has dropped significantly in comparison with the previous two years. In 2016 close to 1,000 were recorded. In 2015, the number was even higher – a total of 1,031 attacks on refugee homes were recorded.

FAR-RIGHT

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Radical Austrian nationalist Martin Sellner has been banned from entering Germany, it emerged on Tuesday, days after he was deported from Switzerland.

Germany issues entry ban to Austrian far-right activist Sellner

Sellner, a leader of Austria’s white pride Identitarian Movement, posted a video of himself on X, formerly Twitter, reading out a letter he said was from the city of Potsdam.

A spokeswoman for the city authorities confirmed to AFP that an EU citizen had been served with a “ban on their freedom of movement in Germany”.

The person can no longer enter or stay in Germany “with immediate effect” and could be stopped by police or deported if they try to enter the country, the spokeswoman said, declining to name the individual for privacy reasons.

READ ALSO: Who is Austria’s far-right figurehead banned across Europe?

“We have to show that the state is not powerless and will use its legitimate means,” Mike Schubert, the mayor of Potsdam, said in a statement.

Sellner caused an uproar in Germany after allegedly discussing the Identitarian concept of “remigration” with members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) at a meeting in Potsdam in November.

Reports of the meeting sparked a huge wave of protests against the AfD, with tens of thousands of Germans attending demonstrations across the country.

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Swiss police said Sunday they had prevented a hundred-strong far-right gathering due to be addressed by Sellner, adding that he had been arrested and deported.

The Saturday meeting had been organised by the far-right Junge Tat group, known for its anti-immigration and anti-Islamic views.

The group is also a proponent of the far-right white nationalist Great Replacement conspiracy theory espoused by Sellner’s Identitarian Movement.

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