Related News
Germans clash with migrants in border town
Print Edition
DOZENS of police officers intervened as groups of far-right Germans and asylum-seekers clashed in an eastern German town that has previously seen racist incidents, officials said yesterday.
Around 80 Germans and 20 migrants attacked each other on Wednesday night in Bautzen, a town between Dresden and the Polish border, police spokesman Thomas Knaup said.
Officers trying to separate the groups as they brawled in a town square were assailed with bottles thrown by some of the asylum-seekers.
The far-right protesters shouted nationalist slogans and followed the asylum-seekers back to their shelter while police tried to keep the groups apart, police said.
Later, some members of the far-right group threw stones at an ambulance, preventing it from reaching the shelter to attend to an injured migrant.
Bautzen Mayor Alexander Ahrens condemned the violence and vowed to deploy more police and social workers to prevent future incidents.
“I’m shocked and very worried about the escalation,” Ahrens said. “I sharply condemn the growing violence in confrontations between the various groups.”
Ahrens said there had been problems between far-right German youths and young asylum-seekers during the past two weeks in the Kornmarkt square. Town officials had already discussed imposing an alcohol ban there, German news agency dpa reported.
In February, onlookers celebrated as a fire damaged a former hotel that was being turned into a refugee home in Bautzen, a case of suspected arson. And when German President Joachim Gauck visited Bautzen in March, he was insulted by some local residents.
Hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers arrived in Germany last year, leading to tensions in some regions. The state of Saxony, where Bautzen is located, has seen several anti-migrant incidents, although it has one of the lowest percentages of foreigners in the country.
Meanwhile, the Hungarian government has annonced a plan for a new fence, surveillance equipment and a paved road for police “border hunters” in its continuing efforts to stop the flow of migrants and refugees from the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Hungary’s grudging treatment of refugees has been harshly criticized by the United Nations' refugee agency and other rights organizations.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
