News / Germany

Suspected arson attack hits German refugee center

Friday, 11 March 2016 2:34 AM [ Last Update: Friday, 11 March 2016 3:48 AM ]

People hold up banners reading, "Arson is coward and no solution" (L) and "When houses burn one cannot applaud" as they demonstrate in solidarity with refugees in front of a former hotel being converted into a home for asylum seekers and partly destroyed by a fire in the town of Bautzen, eastern Germany, February 21, 2016. ©AFP

Two refugees in Germany have been injured in a suspected arson attack at a refugee center in the southeastern city of Regensburg.

The victims were hospitalized for smoke inhalation after fire broke out at the center in the city’s Grunthal district on Thursday.

A total of 15 asylum seekers were at the premises at the time when the blaze engulfed the building, prompting emergency services to be called in to prevent the fire from spreading to adjacent buildings.

Police have launched an investigation into the incident, which took place shortly after unknown attackers attempted to set fire to a refugee shelter in the town of Nauen, west of the capital, Berlin. No casualties were reported from the latter incident.

Some 1.1 million refugees were registered in Germany between January and December 2015. The country is expecting 2.5 million more to arrive over the next five years.

A refugee cries as he arrives at the main station in the city of Dortmund, western Germany, on September 6, 2015. ©AFP

Germany has witnessed multiple similar xenophobic attacks on refugee shelters, particularly in the former communist eastern part of the country.

According to Germany’s Criminal Police Office, over 800 attacks targeted refugee shelters in 2015. A total of 231 extreme-right attacks were also recorded across the country between January 1 and February 20 this year.

A notable incident last month saw about 100 people blocking a bus transporting refugees to a shelter in Clausnitz, a small town about 40 kilometers (24.8 miles) from the eastern city of Dresden, and yelling “Get lost,” “Stop crying and go home if you don’t like it here,” among other invective.

Also last month, another suspected arson attack hit a former hotel, which was being turned into a refugee home in the town of Bautzen in eastern Germany. The incident was followed by mob cheering as blaze raged.

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