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More and more soldiers are being treated for mission-related psychological problems (symbol image)
Photo: FOCKE STRANGMANN / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
The Bundeswehr missions in recent years have left their mark - also on members of the military, as data from the Ministry of Defense show.
As a result, more and more Bundeswehr soldiers are being treated for mission-related psychological problems.
The figures result from a response from the Ministry of Defense to a request from the left-wing parliamentary group, which the German Press Agency has received.
According to this, 602 traumatized soldiers received psychiatric treatment in 2013 - in 2019 there were already 1006 and in 2020 already 1116 emergency services.
For the first five months of this year, the ministry gives the number as 762.
The number of mental disorders diagnosed for the first time and probably resulting from the mission also rose from 274 in 2017 to 301 in 2020. However, it was several times higher in previous years, for example in 2011 with 389 first diagnoses.
The defense expert of the left-wing parliamentary group, Matthias Höhn, called on the federal government and the Bundestag to weigh up the long-term consequences of dangerous missions like in Afghanistan or Mali carefully. "We need a broad debate in politics and society on how to deal with the increasing number of sick soldiers," he told the editorial network Germany (RND). Those affected need hearing, visibility and help. "Above all, they have the right to the Federal Government and the Bundestag carefully reviewing the meaning of deployments abroad."
The Bundeswehr ended its engagement in Afghanistan a few weeks ago.
The soldiers are still on duty in Mali.
In June, twelve German soldiers and one Belgian soldier were injured in a suicide attack on a German blue helmet patrol.
The Bundeswehr is currently involved in a total of eleven missions abroad.
fla / afp / dpa
