Future asylum centre torched in German town of far-right protests

04 April 2015 - 18H12

by Isabelle Roussel and Biodun Iginla, France24 and BBC News, Berlin

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BERLIN  -  A building earmarked to house asylum seekers was set ablaze overnight, German police said Saturday, in an eastern town where the mayor recently resigned over far-right protests against his plans to house refugees.
Markus Nierth, mayor of Troeglitz in Saxony Anhalt state, stepped down last month saying he felt abandoned by local authorities in facing neo-Nazi hostility over his support for accommodating about 40 refugees in the small village.
The fire broke out early Saturday in the building set to become a home for asylum seek in May, and "no one was hurt," a police spokeswoman told AFP.
Police later said in a statement that "one or several people caused the fire" and that "it appears an accelerant fuel was used in the blaze".
The damage from the fire has made the building uninhabitable for the moment, police added.
A German couple, the only people in the building at the time of the fire escaped unharmed, thanks to neighbours who alerted them, police said.
Interviewed by the daily Tagesspiegel, ex-mayor Nierth said he "felt helpless, angry and sad all at the same time" over the latest incident.
"The brownshirt (Nazi) contagion has gone so far that they prefer to burn down the homes in which families could find a new life," he said, referring to the anti-immigrant sentiment of the far-right and neo-Nazis.
Germany, which has become Europe's top haven for people fleeing conflict, saw populist marches in recent months in the eastern city of Dresden railing against the "Islamisation" of Europe.

Number of asylum applicants to EU jumps 44 percent

20 March 2015 - 21H34

by Isabelle Roussel and Biodun Iginla, France24 and BBC News

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© AFP/File | Migrants disembark from an Italian coast guard ship on March 4, 2015 in the port of Augusta, after a rescue operation off the coast of Sicily

BRUSSELS  -  The number of applicants for asylum to EU countries increased last year to 626,000, a surge of 44 percent fueled by refugees from the civil war in Syria, the European Union's statistics agency said Friday.
The overall figure for asylum applicants increased by 191,000 over the previous year, with the number of Syrians rising to 122,800 from 50,000 in 2013, Eurostat said.
In 2014, Germany registered the highest number of requests, with 202,700 or 32 percent of the total, it said.
It was followed by Sweden with 81,200, or 13 percent of the total, then Italy with 64,600 or 10 percent, France with 62,800 or 10 percent, and Hungary, with 42,800 or seven percent.
"It should be noted that these five member states registered different trends last year," it added.
Compared with 2013, the number of asylum applicants in 2014 more than doubled in Italy, up 143 percent, and in Hungary, up 126 percent.
Italy has been most concerned with a wave of migrants making dangerous boat voyages across the Mediterranean, mainly from Libya.
The figure increased by 60 percent in Germany and 50 percent in Sweden, but decreased by five percent in France.
"Compared with the population of each member state, the highest rates of registered applicants were recorded in Sweden," it said.
There were 8.4 applicants per thousand inhabitants in Sweden, well ahead of Hungary at 4.3, Austria at 3.3, Malta at 3.2, Denmark at 2.6 and Germany at 2.5.
"In contrast, the lowest rates were observed in Portugal, Slovakia and Romania. In 2014, there were 1.2 asylum applicants per thousand inhabitants in the EU," it added.
Syria was the main country of origin for asylum seekers last year, followed by war-torn Afghanistan with 41,300, and poverty-stricken Kosovo, with 37,900.
Out of 360,000 decisions taken by member states on asylum requests in 2014, 163,000 were positive, with the status of refugee or temporary protection granted.
Nearly a third of these decisions were taken in favour of Syrians.
Many human rights organisations have complained that the EU has taken too few refugees, while countries bordering Syria have admitted some four million people fleeing the war.
In its defence, the EU said it is the leading donor to victims of the crisis, providing more than 3.2 billion euros ($34.7 billion) in humanitarian aid.