Anti-Muslim crimes, including physical assault, threatening letters, hate speech and spraying Nazi-themed graffiti on mosques, were rife in Germany in 2017.
Statistics from the Interior Ministry recorded at least 950 such offenses, most of them carried out by right-wing extremists, with 33 people hurt in attacks.
Some 60 attacks and acts of desecration were committed against mosques and other Islamic institutions. In some cases, pig’s blood was smeared on buildings or Nazi symbols were sprayed on walls.
Around 90 demonstrations against the alleged “Islamization” of Germany were also included in the figures.
Aiman Mazyek, who heads the Central Council of Muslims, said the number of attacks on Muslims and Muslim facilities was likely much higher given that many authorities were not yet monitoring anti-Islamic incidents specifically and victims often failed to make police reports.
The right wing in Germany is on the rise and has severely criticised Chancellor Angela Merkel for her policy of allowing Muslim migration from the Middle East and Africa, particularly after Merkel opened Germany’s borders in 2015 as a response to the Syrian refugee crisis.
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