Frequent attacks highlight refugee crisis in Germany

The recent terror attacks in Germany and the third act of refugee-related violence within a week highlight a dilemma for the government on the refugee issue.

The explosion in the town of Ansbach late on Sunday by a Syrian refugee who blew himself up while injuring 12 others at an open-air music festival where about 2,500 people gathered, was an intentional act, Xinhua news agency reported.

The refugee, 27, had tried twice to kill himself. "We do not know at the moment whether the offender purely wanted to commit suicide or his intention was to take other people into death," said Joachim Herrmann, Interior Minister of Bavaria state, on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, a 21-year-old Syrian refugee was arrested in an assault believed to be a crime of passion, in which a woman was killed and two others injured in the city of Reutlingen.

The Sunday incidents occurred within a week after an axe attack by a 17-year-old Afghan refugee on a train which left five people injured. The perpetrator was shot dead by police, and the attack was confirmed to be connected with the Islamic State militant group.

The incidents, all connected to the refugees, are expected to further feed the arguments in European countries that refugees are the source of increasing terrorism.

They also highlight a mounting refugee crisis in Germany by heightening a social insecurity, not to mention increasing pressures on public services and jobs market, which was the major argument for Britons to vote in June to quit the EU.

As it can hardly stop refugee inflows from war-ravaged regions, the question raised in Germany is more about government policy.

Bavarian Premier Horst Seehofer has demanded a guaranteed disconnection of asylum seekers with the IS group for a tougher control over refugees.

The call from the leader of the key partner in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition is expected to exert more pressure upon the government's open-door refugee policy.

Some German politicians reckon an estimated 3,000 personnel are needed to beef up the security force in order to cope with the increasing number of refugees and immigrants.

In 2015, immigrants to Germany surpassed two million in total, an increase of 700,000 over the previous year, showed official data.

--IANS

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