Germany: Buildings housing asylum seekers set on fire, swastikas painted on walls

The German government has condemned the "xenophobic" attack on three residential buildings housing refugees in the German town of Vorra, and police suspect the arson was the work of neo-Nazis, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

The houses were painted with "swastika" symbols and a message to asylum seekers.

Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned a series of anti-Muslim demonstrations recorded in Dresden. Merkel stated on Friday that there is no place in Germany for hatred towards Muslims or anyone of a different religious or racial group.

On behalf of the Government and the Chancellor, I can state very clearly that there is no place in Germany for religious hatred, regardless of which religion people belong to - said the Chancellor's spokesperson Christiane Wirtz.

In recent months, Germany has seen an increase in anti-Islamic and anti-immigrant protests, which has concerned German politicians.

Joachim Herrmann, the Interior Minister of Bavaria, said that the swastikas indicate right-wing extremists.

Recently, the right-wing and anti-Islamic platforms PEDIS and HOGES were formed, gathering thousands of people in protests in Dresden, Hanover, and Cologne.

The organizers, who started protests two months ago with a few hundred people, say they are not against immigrants but are protesting against "Islamic extremism and the influx of asylum seekers."

The largest number of asylum seekers are from Syria, followed by citizens of Serbia, Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Somalia, Eritrea, Afghanistan...

A total of 35,729 Syrians have applied for asylum in Germany in the last 11 months. Asylum seekers are housed in refugee centers.

This week, the wearing of the burqa (hijab) was also discussed, and the president of the German Council of Muslims, Aiman Mazyek, called on politicians to speak out and thus reject suspicions that "racism has become respectable."