Nadine Osman
The German interior ministry announced that police registered 258 anti-Muslim offences in the first half of 2023.
More than a dozen mosques were attacked between January and June, and hundreds of Muslims were physically assaulted or verbally insulted on the street or in public places; 17 people were gravely hurt.
The ministry released the figures on August 28 in response to a parliamentary question by the opposition Left Party. Hate crimes, threatening letters, verbal and physical attacks, vandalism, or property damage were among the incidents.
Some 124 of these cases were reported between January and March, and 134 others were registered between April and June. While criminal investigations were opened against several suspects, no arrests have been made so far, Interior Ministry officials have said.
Most of the crimes were committed in eastern Germany, the stronghold of far-right parties, according to the figures. But scores of Islamophobic hate crimes were also registered in the capital Berlin, and the western cities of Cologne, Frankfurt, and Munich. Muslims have expressed concern about the rising hate crimes in Germany.
Kemal Ergün, President of the Turkish-Muslim group the Milli Görüs of Germany (IGMG G), said more mosques have received threatening letters in recent weeks, signed with the neo-Nazi alias National Socialist Underground (NSU 2.0.), a terror group uncovered in 2011 that murdered 10 people and carried out bomb attacks targeting Turkish and Muslim immigrants.
Ergün has called on authorities to bring perpetrators to justice. He also called for a stronger stance against anti-Muslim hatred and right-wing extremism. “Unfortunately, racism is a reality in Germany. Latest polls show that the racist and fascist political party (the AfD) has become the second-biggest party in the country. This alone shows that we are heading towards a dangerous period,” he said.
The latest polls placed AfD party in second place, ahead of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democrats. According to the latest data, police registered at least 610 Islamophobic hate crimes in 2022 across the country. Some 62 mosques were attacked between January and December last year, and at least 39 people were injured because of anti-Muslim violence.
Germany has the second-largest Muslim population in Western Europe after France. It is home to nearly 5 million Muslims, according to official figures.
Photo: The German interior ministry (Credit: Matti Blume/Wikipedia)
