2024-03-22 23:43:09
The state of Saxony-Anhalt recorded a 31 percent increase in violent crimes against asylum seekers compared to the previous year. Meanwhile, the state ministers are dealing with the issue of integration.
Saxony-Anhalt has recorded an increase in politically motivated violent crimes against asylum seekers and refugees. Last year there was an increase of 31 percent compared to the previous year, said Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Minister Tamara Zieschang in the state parliament.
In 2023, 63 violent crimes were recorded, compared to 48 the year before. The states are still in the process of compiling statistics on politically motivated crime, so no comparisons are possible yet, said the minister.
At the same time, according to Zieschang, there is a decline in politically motivated crimes against asylum accommodation. “We had five attacks of this kind last year,” said the CDU politician. According to the Interior Ministry, there were seven in 2022.
Integration ministers want to send a signal against racism
Against the background of persistently high numbers of new asylum seekers, the federal states have also emphasized the importance of a broad integration offer in Germany. “Overcoming the challenges of integrating people who have come to us permanently or over a longer period of time has been neglected in the public consciousness in recent months,” said Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Social Affairs Minister Stefanie Drese (SPD) at the end of a two-day event Integration Minister Conference in the Baltic Sea resort of Warnemünde.
The conference passed a key motion entitled “Growing together”, which Bavaria did not agree to. Parts of the application contradicted the fundamental political convictions of the Bavarian government, it was stated in a note in the minutes.
In recent months, signs of exclusion, devaluation, racism and anti-Semitism have unsettled many people in Germany, said conference chairwoman Drese. Fears were also stirred up from certain quarters. The conference, on the other hand, sends a clear signal from Rostock that stands for integration, diversity and participation. The upper limit of a maximum of 100,000 refugees per year that was discussed by the CDU was not an issue. The integration ministers meet once a year for their main conference. On July 1st of each year, the chairmanship changes in alphabetical order according to the federal states. Lower Saxony will take over the presidency in the summer.