Fears that anti-immigrant fervour is growing in Germany have been given fresh impetus by security experts who have warned the country to brace itself for a rise in xenophobic attacks as a growing number of protesters turn to violence to vent their anger over Europe’s refugee crisis.
A confidential report by the Federal Criminal Office (BKA) that has been leaked to German media said the far-right scene had been spurred on by the continuing influx of refugees to Germany and experts believed that what it referred to as the group’s sense of “agitation” towards the government’s asylum policy was set to intensify. It warned that asylum seekers, volunteers and politicians were under particular threat.
While the far right is usually considered to consist of disparate groups who operate heterogeneously, many have found ideological consensus in the refugee crisis, according to the assessment, as pressure increases on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government to get a grip on the situation. » | Kate Connolly in Berlin | Thursday, October 22, 2015
