Violence in Saxony: arson attack on refugee accommodation in Leipzig

Created: 08/27/2022, 18:27

By: Sandra Kathe

A prefabricated building in Leipzig, which offers space for up to 225 refugees, was attacked by unknown persons with incendiary devices on Saturday night.

© Sebastian Willnow

While thousands of racist attacks commemorate 30 years ago in Rostock, unknown persons carried out an arson attack on an asylum accommodation in Leipzig.

According to the LKA in Saxony, unknown persons threw several incendiary devices on the wall of a refugee accommodation in Leipzig on Saturday night.

Thanks to the quick intervention of security guards, no one was injured and only minor damage was caused by the attack.

The symbolism of the act is still alarming against the background of the anniversary of the right-wing extremist attacks on accommodation in Rostock-Lichtenhagen 30 years ago.

The police have not yet released any information about the people who carried out the arson attack or the motive for the crime.

However, a political background to the crime cannot be ruled out.

The investigative team called on the population to report suspicious observations.

Arson attack on refugee accommodation in Saxony: LKA determined

Saxony's CDU Interior Minister Armin Schuster was shocked by the incident.

It was a warning sign that "such inhuman crimes are not a thing of the past".

As a result of the attack, the Saxon Ministry of the Interior has ordered increased surveillance of refugee accommodation in the state.

According to a report by the German Press Agency, the accommodation in the Lausen-Grünau district offers space for 225 people.

Attack on asylum accommodation: memories of riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen

The attack happened at the end of a week in which the racist riots in Rostock-Lichtenhagen 30 years ago were widely remembered.

In August 1992, to the applause of thousands of onlookers, local residents and neo-Nazis attacked the central reception center for asylum seekers and a dormitory for Vietnamese workers and partly set them on fire.

Against the background of the anniversary, thousands demonstrated in Rostock over the weekend against the forgetting of right-wing extremist acts of violence 30 years ago.

(ska with dpa)