News / Germany

Most Germans don’t blame attacks on Berlin's policy: Poll

Wednesday, 03 August 2016 6:08 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 03 August 2016 6:18 PM ]

Police stand at the scene of an attack the previous day by a Syrian refugee in Ansbach, Germany, June 25, 2016. ©AFP

Most Germans believe that the government's refugee policy should not be blamed for recent terror attacks in the European country, an opinion poll shows.

The survey, which was conducted by the Forsa polling company, found that 69 percent of the respondents saw no direct link between the arrival of asylum seekers and the latest assaults claimed by the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in the southern German state of Bavaria.

The poll, which questioned 1,007 people on July 28 and 29, will be published in Thursday's edition of Stern magazine.

The study also showed that 28 percent of the respondents believed the government's stance on refugees was responsible for the terror attacks.

On July 18, a 17-year-old asylum seeker believed from either Afghanistan or Pakistan went on an axe rampage on a train in the German city of Wuerzburg, severely wounding four people from Hong Kong and injuring a woman while fleeing the scene. The assailant was shot dead by police.

Amaq, a news outlet affiliated to Daesh, said in a statement that the person behind the assault was a member of the terror group.

Later on July 24, a 27-year-old Syrian, whose refugee application had been refused, set off his explosives outside a bar in the city of Ansbach, wounding 15 people.

He had recorded a cell phone video in which he pledged allegiance to Daesh.

The two incidents claimed by Daesh, as well as two other fatal assaults in Germany not related to the Takfiri group, put the spotlight back on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policy.

Germany opened its borders last summer to many asylum seekers with a welcoming mood, but it gradually shifted away from the policy as the economic and political weight of the massive inflow started to be felt.

Germany, one of the most popular destinations for refugees, registered about 1.1 million of them in 2015.

The country has recently seen the rise of far-right groups opposing the entry of refugees, most of whom are fleeing conflict zones in Africa and the Middle East, particularly Syria.

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