Germany failing to protect refugee shelters, Amnesty says

AFP, BERLIN: Human rights group Amnesty International called on Germany Thursday to better protect shelters for migrants and refugees after a spate of racist attacks.
Amnesty’s Germany branch warned in a report that the country has no uniform plan to protect such facilities, which are the responsibility of the country’s 16 state governments.
Hate crimes and attacks against migrants have exploded since arrivals spiked to more than one million last year, mostly from the Middle East and Africa.
Some 923 offences against refugee shelters were reported in 2015, compared to 175 the previous year, according to figures from the Interior Ministry.
Of these, 177 were acts of violence, up from 26 in 2014.
Amnesty said German police often lack “a comprehensive plan to review the security situation in order to assess what shelters are particularly vulnerable to becoming the target of racially motivated crimes”.

Germany failing to protect refugee shelters, Amnesty says

AFP, BERLIN: Human rights group Amnesty International called on Germany Thursday to better protect shelters for migrants and refugees after a spate of racist attacks. Amnestys Germany branch warned in a report that the country has no uniform plan to protect such facilities, which are the responsibility of the countrys 16 state governments. Hate crimes and attacks against migrants have exploded since arrivals spiked to more than one million last year, mostly from the Middle East and Africa. Some 923 offences against refugee shelters were reported in 2015, compared to 175 the previous year, according to figures from the Interior Ministry. Of these, 177 were acts of violence, up from 26 in 2014. Amnesty said German police often lack a comprehensive plan to review the security situation in order to assess what shelters are particularly vulnerable to becoming the target of racially motivated crimes.