Berlin – Germany is failing to deal with a sharp increase in hate crimes, Amnesty International said in Berlin in a report that was released on Thursday.
It said that the German state is neglecting its human rights responsibilities by not protecting refugees and people of colour sufficiently against discrimination and racial attacks.
It said that German authorities did not effectively investigate and prosecute racist crimes even before the refugee crisis that brought in more than 1.1 million migrants in 2015.
The report said that more crimes were reported16 times against refugee shelters in 2015 when compared to 2013.
“The surge in migrant arrivals and chaotic handling of the situation by the government has fueled anti-foreigner sentiment.
“It has prompted a spate of arson attacks and other hate crimes at refugee homes in recent months.
“The number of racially motivated attacks has never been as high as now in the history of post-war Germany, the General Secretary, Selmin Caliskan said.
According to the report, crimes against racial, ethnic and religious minorities were up by 87 per cent in 2015 from 2013.
“There was increase in racist violence against migrants; there are signs of institutional racism in public administration.
“Racial criminal motives are often not recognised, largely because of prejudices, ignorance and thoughtlessness of public officials,’’ Caliskan said.
Amnesty also accused German authorities of having learnt little from the botched investigations into the far-right National Socialist Underground (NSU), which is thought to have committed a series of racially inspired murders in Germany more than a decade ago.
The organisation is asking the government to create a comprehensive solution for protecting refugee accommodations throughout the country.
It said that the police data collection system for right-wing and racist crimes also needs to be overhauled. (dpa/NAN)
