Ukrainian organizations report that there have been repeated threats and attacks against their people in Berlin since the beginning of the war, Berliner Zeitung reports.
According to information obtained by the news agency dpa, Ukrainian refugees in Berlin have been victims of theft, assaults, and other criminal acts over the past twelve months. Since the beginning of the full-scale war at the end of February 2022 until February of this year, the police have registered 3250 crimes in which at least one person from Ukraine was harmed.
The most frequent offenses were thefts (1294), followed by physical assaults (704), fraud (301), threats (234), and insults (117). The police were able to identify a suspect or alleged perpetrator in around 1200 of the 3250 recorded crimes. This often involved physical assaults (575), threats (187), and insults (86). The high number of crimes was particularly noticeable in the districts of Mitte (640) and Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf (484). There were significantly fewer in the other districts.
The Green Party lawmaker Franco emphasized that Ukrainian refugees would repeatedly report verbal and physical attacks based on their nationality or language. The available numbers therefore also confirm warnings from Ukrainian organizations.
Franco stated that the proportion of physical assaults against Ukrainians is more than two and a half times higher than the proportion in the general population, and the proportion of threats is also significantly higher than average. A possible explanation could be “a higher level of hate crime.” The police are required to investigate this. Franco finds it “more than regrettable” that the political motivation of the suspects is unknown. Another problem is that only 23 investigations have led to charges in court so far.
