Attacks against facilities housing asylum seekers and refugees in Germany increased last year, for the first time in seven years. There were 121 attacks in 2022, up from 70 in 2021. However, the number of attacks against refugees and asylum seekers outside of facilities did not increase.
The German newspaper Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung on Thursday reported that the number of attacks against asylum seekers and refugee reception facilities increased to 121 in 2022. They quoted a response by the German interior ministry to a parliamentary request on the issue from the Left party, containing ‘preliminary’ numbers.
These attacks include both property damage and physical violence against staff or residents. Most attacks were reportedly politically motivated and believed to have been carried out by far-right attackers.
More refugees, asylum seekers arrived in 2022
The rise in attacks was likely in part due to an end of anti-COVID-19 measures and a rise in the number of asylum seekers and refugees in Germany, the Osnabrücker Zeitung reported.
In 2022, over a million Ukrainians arrived in Germany. Ukrainians are automatically granted protection, foregoing the asylum process. Roughly 218,000 people filed their initial asylum application in Germany in 2022. The largest national groups were Syrians (roughly 71,000), Afghans (36,000), Turks (24,000), Iraqis (15,000) and Georgians (8,000). That’s according to statistics from the German interior ministry.
Not more attacks against refugees outside of reception centers
Until last year, attacks on reception facilities steadily declined since 2015 – when Germany also saw a large number of refugees arrive. However, the 2022 numbers pale in comparison to 2015, when 1,047 attacks were registered. In 2017, the number was 284; in 2020, 84, according to a news agency epd.
Meanwhile, the number of attacks against refugees and asylum seekers that were recorded outside of reception facilities did not rise last year – it remained roughly the same. In 2022, there were 1,248 such attacks recorded – compared to 1,259 in 2021.
Protests against construction of new refugee reception centers
Germany has struggled to accommodate the large number of newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers in recent months. Some of the efforts to increase reception capacities have faced protests from locals and right-wing activists. Demonstrations against a center in the village of Upahl in northeastern Germany in particular have been making headlines for weeks.