Hamburg police have made 1,750 visits to asylum centers across the city since January 2023, with 815 of those interventions occurring between January and October of 2024 alone, according to figures from a recent Senate report.
The statistics, disclosed in response to a parliamentary inquiry by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, reveal a significant rise in police and emergency responses at asylum centers, fueling political debate on managing asylum-related incidents and policy reform.
The report highlighted a notable increase in police interventions over the previous year, with 815 reported interventions in the first 10 months of 2024, compared to 785 over the same period in 2023. Additionally, Hamburg’s fire and rescue services have responded to 2,505 incidents at these facilities since early 2023.
Physical assault incidents topped the list of emergency calls, with a total of 172 cases recorded since January 2023. Officers were also dispatched 104 times to manage disputes, with 75 incidents classified as fights. Other common calls included 148 riot-related interventions, 139 triggered by fire alarms, and 134 due to trespassing. The statistics further cite 16 weapon threats, six cases of robbery, and eight sexual offenses.
The report also referenced an estimated “four-digit number” of procedures involving various forms of assault or resistance against officers.
The figures have sparked a strong reaction from the AfD, with state parliamentary group leader Dirk Nockemann calling the frequency of violent incidents “the bottom of the barrel.”
“So-called people seeking protection riot, rob, beat, rape – and the police are required to do the dirty work,” he said as he reiterated his party’s calls for a “deportation offensive” targeting those involved in violent crimes to alleviate the “unreasonable burden” on police resources.
“If asylum seekers become violent criminals, deportation must follow immediately,” Nockemann added.
Hamburg’s social services have also been grappling with strain in youth shelters, further underscoring the challenges posed by increased asylum demands. The city’s sole crisis facility for minors currently houses 120 individuals, exceeding its maximum capacity of 102.
The Hamburg social authorities previously reported that the high number of asylum arrivals has made it increasingly challenging to provide adequate accommodation and care.
The decline of the German port city has been well documented and reported on by Remix News, yet local politicians continue to be strong advocates for mass immigration.
Last month, the Hamburg Senate faced strong criticism for allegedly using legal loopholes to bypass public consultation over the construction of a migrant accommodation facility in Barmbek-Nord.
The project, intended to house 400 asylum seekers, has been fast-tracked under the pretense of public safety laws, despite the vast majority of German citizens feeling asylum and immigration numbers are far too high and have contributed to the saturation in services and housing available for the German people.
One such instance revealed recently by a Hamburg pensioner related to the arrival of a large Syrian refugee family who were handed social housing in an affluent area of the city. She described how anti-social behavior had become commonplace and warned the family had quickly become an imposition.
“They are loud, they throw their garbage outside the door, and just the other day, one of them pooped in front of the door,” she wrote in a letter to German media outlet NIUS.
Violent crime has been on the rise across the city, not just in the vicinity of asylum centers.
In November last year, two Arab-speaking males were sought in connection with the rape of a young mother on school grounds as she sought to pick up her child.
Some attempts have been made to curtail the behavior of asylum seekers, including the introduction of payment cards to reduce the administrative burden of handling cash benefits for asylum seekers and prevent misuse.
However, earlier this month Remix News reported how left-wing advocacy groups had launched a website explaining how migrants could convert their card credit into cash through a voucher exchange system, exposing a loophole in the system.
