Berlin has reported a marked increase in attacks on asylum seekers and refugee shelters amid a sharp rise in crime.
Official figures provided at the request of two local Green Party lawmakers showed that in 2024, there were 77 attacks on asylum seekers and refugees and eight cases of deliberate damage to the dwellings where they lived.
In 2023, there were 32 targeted attacks on people and none on residential buildings, one of Ario’s deputies, Ebrahimpour Mirzai, told the dpa news agency.
As a result of the attacks, 34 people needed hospital treatment, according to official figures. They include 16 women, 14 men, two girls and two men whose ages were not reported.
Thirty-seven suspects have been identified in direct attacks on people, 11 of who were known to police. Authorities did not report any specific leads in the attacks on refugee shelters.
Rise in attacks as a “wake-up call”
Jian Omar, another Green Party MP who pushed for the release of the statistics, called the report a “wake-up call.”
“We demand a clear refugee protection plan, a visible police presence in threatened residences, comprehensive prevention work and, above all, policies that clearly recognise right-wing violence and deal with it decisively,” he said.
Some 35,000 refugees are registered in Berlin’s official reception centres and hostels, while another 10,000 are in shelters such as the former Tegel and Tempelhof airports, where conditions have often been criticised as poor and overcrowded.
Officials from the state refugee authority (LAF) told local media that violence prevention plans are in place at all refugee sites, including 24-hour security at most facilities.
Earlier this month, the LAF reported a sharp drop in new arrivals in Berlin to 1,761 in January and February, down 35 per cent from the same period in 2024 amid a downturn across the European Union. The majority of arrivals in the German capital came from Vietnam, Moldova, Afghanistan, Turkey and Syria.
