German authorities alarmed by growing violence against refugees
People look at burnt-out roof truss of a former hotel that was under reconstruction to become home for asylum seekers on Feb 21, 2016 in Bautzen, eastern Germany (AFP)


A mob angrily shouting "We are the people" at a bus carrying 20 asylum seeker to a new shelter in the eastern German town of ClausnitzShocked German officials on Sunday condemned two "disgusting" incidents involving anti-migrant mobs in the ex-communist east of the country, including a crowd cheering a blaze at a planned refugee shelter.A group of 20-30 apparently drunken onlookers celebrated the as the suspected arson fire damaged a former hotel being converted into a refugee home in eastern Germany, police said Sunday, raising new concerns about violence toward migrants in a nation that registered more than a million asylum seekers last year. Police suspected arson and traces of fire accelerant were found. Some members of the group also tried to impede the work of firefighters dispatched to the scene, police said. A police spokesman added that the group showed "unabashed delight" at the blaze and made "disparaging comments" about the efforts to contain it.While most Germans have been welcoming toward refugees, a vocal group has staged protests in front of refugee homes, especially in the east. Germany last year saw a surge in violence against such lodgings. The events came two nights after 100 people in the Saxony town of Clausnitz tried to block the arrival of a bus carrying about 20 asylum seekers to a new shelter.The scenes, captured on video, show the mob angrily shouting, "We are the people," borrowing the pro-democracy slogan from the peaceful revolution that led to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The images, which have gone viral on social media, show police officers dragging terrified refugees out of the coach, including a teenage boy reportedly from Lebanon. Cops dragging refugee kids out of a bus as they did not want to leave the bus because of the racist mob outside Police chief Uwe Reissmann sparked further outrage when he gave the migrants themselves partial blame for the fraught scene, noting that some had filmed the mob with their cellphones and made obscene gestures at them. He said he had not ruled out criminal charges against the protesters or the migrants.Members of Chancellor Angela Merkel's left-right "grand coalition" government, which has come under increasing pressure over its liberal stance on asylum seekers, expressed outrage at the incidents. "Racists are pathetic lawbreakers, a disgrace for our country. Shame on you!" Germanytarget="_blank"'>German authorities are alarmed by growing violence against refugees and pro-refugee politicians in recent months, as far-right and populist parties exploit the growing refugee influx to the country.