More Muslims face racist attacks in Germany


A suspected far-right extremist verbally and physically assaulted a Muslim woman at a Berlin metro station, according to local sources. The incident was the latest in a string of xenophobic attacks in the German capital in recent months targeting people of foreign appearance, including Muslim women with headscarf or Jews wearing a kippah.

The 33-year old Muslim woman told police on Sunday that a man uttered racial slurs and later assaulted her at the Greifswalder metro station. The suspected far-right extremist showed the illegal Nazi salute before running away from the scene, she said. The woman received medical treatment for her injuries, according to the police.

Every day, at least three people become a victim of far-right, racist or xenophobic acts of violence in Germany, according to the VBRG, an umbrella group of counseling centers for victims of right-wing violence.

Last month, a pregnant Muslim woman wearing a headscarf was attacked by an unidentified man in the German capital Berlin, reports said. The incident reportedly took place near Neukölln train station, where a man walking his dog started insulting two women for wearing headscarves. The perpetrator reportedly punched the pregnant woman's abdomen, and punched the other woman's face and fled the scene, reports said. In recent years, increasingly hostile attitudes toward immigrants and the Muslim community have been reported in Germany. In August 2018, massive far-right rallies rocked the city of Chemnitz, in eastern Germany, where skinheads hounded migrants and performed the illegal Hitler salute. Interior Ministry figures show that at least 950 attacks occurred in Germany on Muslims and Islamic institutions in 2018 alone.