One of the most liberal cities in Germany, the university city of Freiburg located in southern Germany, is facing a massive crime wave perpetrated by North African migrants as well as mass riots at the city’s main asylum reception center.
The violence at the reception center has required the police to launch major operations on five separate occasions. Freiburg’s police forces were overwhelmed during the incidents and forced to call for reinforcements from neighboring districts and the German Federal Police to control the chaos, according to German newspaper Stern.
Just on Sunday, approximately 40 foreigners, mostly North Africans and Syrians, attacked each other with knives, sticks, and other objects. Officers made three arrests, but just hours later, another mass brawl broke out involving knives, with 300 foreigners either fighting or watching the fights unfold. Later, at midnight, a third riot broke out involving 40 men who attacked each other with various objects, according to police.
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The next day, residents of the asylum home triggered fire alarms and then threatened the responding firefighters and police officers with a knife. When police went to make arrests, they faced considerable resistance.
A few hours later, staff said they were threatened by North African residents inside the center, requiring a large police response.
Eight migrants were injured over the course of just two days. The violence at the reception center is draining police resources right at a time when the police are facing serious problems with migrant crime in the city center.
‘Skyrocketing crime in city center’
Due to a sharp rise in shoplifting, pickpocketing, and other petty crimes that affect the quality of life of Freiburg residents, the police and the city’s prosecutor’s office are announcing they will pursue a tougher approach.
Police describe the suspects as “young men, mainly from the North African region, who have often only been in Freiburg for a few days and whose identity is usually not certain.” When they are stopped during a theft and “confronted with the accusation of the crime, the perpetrators usually act unimpressed. Police officers are often insulted or attacked.”
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Police have announced 30 arrests in connection with the crackdown, with many of the suspects having already appeared in Freiburg District Court.
Many of the thefts take place in high-end clothing retailers and at the perfume counters of department stores. Police report that the number of such crimes has “skyrocketed,” with most of the suspects men from North Africa. Media reports indicate that many of the migrant men lie about their age in order to avoid stiffer penalties, a trend that is well-documented in Germany.
The men have also been accused of stealing wallets and cell phones.
This isn’t the first crime wave involving migrants in Freiburg. Already in 2016, following a string of sexual assaults and thefts, nightclubs in the city joined together to bar migrant men from entering.
Despite the history of crime in the city, Green and other left-wing politicians have often pushed for more migrants to come to the city under the motto “We have space!”
Foreigners are responsible for a massively disproportionate share of crime in Germany, according to police statistics.
On New Year’s Eve, mass riots took place in major German cities, which involved migrant men attacking ambulances, firefighters, and police. The events have led to a new public debate about mass immigration in the country and called into question Germany’s open borders immigration policy.
