(dpa/TBIAfrica.com) Hate crimes against foreigners increased by almost 20 per cent to 7,700 in Germany in 2018, reporting a similar increase in anti-Semitic attacks, the interior ministry said on Tuesday.
Interior Minister Horst Seehofer, who was presenting 2018’s figures for politically-motivated crimes, said 90 per cent of the 1,799 reported anti-Semitic attacks across the country could be attributed to right-wing groups.
Police found an even stronger increase in politically-motivated attacks based on foreign conflicts.
For example, they witnessed a spike in crimes against Turkish-born citizens after Turkey launched a military offensive in Syria’s northern city of Afrin.
Overall, the number of politically-motivated crimes decreased for the second year to 36,062, which is still the third-highest level since records began in 2001.
The number of crimes by radical Islamists declined in 2018.
Authorities said that this could be related to a series of defeats against Islamic State in Syria and Iraq over the past year.
Federal police also reported a decline in crimes against Islamic individuals or institutions to 910, and just 121 attacks against Christians in Germany.
