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Refugee home attacks more than double in year

The Local Germany
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Refugee home attacks more than double in year
Police at scene of attack in Heidenau. Photo: DPA

Police reported on Monday that there have already been twice as many attacks on refugee homes in 2015 to date as there were in all of 2014.

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Police have already recorded 437 crimes against asylum centres, including 26 arson attacks and 33 acts of violence, said a spokesperson for the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), Germany's version of the FBI.

The report included attacks between January 1st until September 21st , according to Reuters.

The majority of the cases concerned property damage, spreading of propaganda and the use of hate speech.

In 2014, police recorded a total of 200 acts of criminality against asylum centres.

"It's now clear that the high point of last year has been surpassed," said the BKA spokesperson.

The growing number of attacks has corresponded with increasing numbers of refugees from war-torn countries seeking safety in Germany.

The German government has said that it expects to this year receive upward of 800,000 asylum applications - up from 203,000 in 2014.

Attack in Heidenau

German leaders have repeatedly denounced the surge in refugee sentiment in far-right strongholds like Heidenau, where Chancellor Angela Merkel was booed by a crowd as she visited a refugee centre hit by violent protests last month.

The town, outside of Dresden, saw yet another violent altercation on Sunday in which four refugees were attacked, reports Der Spiegel.

Two of the asylum seekers had to be treated for their wounds after one was hit over the head with a glass bottle. The other had scratch wounds on his face.

One of the refugees, all Pakistani, told broadcaster MDR that a group of around 15 young men attacked them as they were eating kebabs in a park near the railway station.

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