Politically-motivated crimes on the rise in Germany

2014 was a year of action on Berlin’s streets. Germany’s capital city saw a record number of political demonstrations, including those from the Anti-Islam group PEGIDA. While protests were mainly peaceful, the debate about immigration is still intense. More refugees and foreigners have come to Germany than in the last two decades. It’s fuelling a serious increase in politically-motivated crimes.

Police say they are watching the situation closely. In Berlin, crimes committed by the political right went up 11 percent and the left by 33 percent.

The number of crimes motivated by right-wing extremism has also dramatically risen in Germany. In October to December 2014, police recorded 67 incidents, including attacks against refugee homes by weapons and arson. In 2014, there were a total of 2015 incidents. That’s three times as many as the year before.

Germany’s Foundation for Integration is trying to fight xenophobia through awareness. The organization has created a successful Facebook campaign to show how multicultural German society is.

By providing scholarships for immigrants, the organization hopes to create acceptance, and that crime of any kind, whether from left or right, should not be tolerated.