Islamophobia, Anti-Immigrant Sentiment On The Rise In Germany

Islamophobia has risen markedly in Germany, a study published on Wednesday showed, underscoring the tensions simmering in German society after more than one million migrants, mostly Muslims, arrived last year.

In addition, every second respondent in the study of 2,420 people said they sometimes felt like a foreigner in their own country due to large number of muslims living in Germany, up from 43 percent in 2014 and 30.2 percent in 2009.

The number of people who believe Muslims should be forbidden from coming to Germany has also risen, the study showed, and now stands at just above 40 percent, up from about a fifth in 2009.

The study was conducted by researchers at the University of Leipzig in co-operation with the Heinrich Boell Foundation, the Rosa-Luxemburg Foundation and the Otto-Brenner foundation.

Unsurprisingly, members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party were most likely to favor stopping Muslims from coming to Germany. The anti-immigration party , which supports a full ban on minarets and the burqa, has descibed Islam as incompatible with the German constitution.

The number of attacks on refugee shelters has also risen.

Meanwhile, Green voters were most likely to disagree with the statement that Muslims made them feel like foreigners.

On monday, German President, Joachim Gauck warned against demonizing Muslims and against polarization along religious and ethnic lines in German society when he joined a Ramadan dinner in Berlin.

The study also examined extreme right-wing views towards other groups in Germany.

"While general prejudice against migrants fell slightly, the focus of resentment towards asylums seekers, Muslims as well as Sinti and Roma, increased," the study's authors.

Slightly more than 80 percent of the study's respondent wanted the government to not be too generous when examining asylum applications.

Almost 40 percent of respondents in the former East Germany agreed with the statement that foreigners only come to the country to take advantage of it social welfare benefits. That's compared to about 30 percent in the former West Germany.



source:
The Guardian