Suspected arson attack on refugee shelter near Berlin

In Austria, police said 37 people were injured, seven seriously, when two vans packed with as many as 90 migrants collided yesterday near the Hungarian border.

GERMAN police are investigating a suspected arson attack on a gym used as temporary housing for refugees in Nauen, about 15 kilometres west of Berlin.

Attacks on migrant shelters have risen alarmingly since 2014.

Brandenburg state police say they are working on the assumption that the fire was started deliberately.

No-one was injured in the incident and Police are still searching for the culprits.

Mayor Juergen Opitz, a member of Merkel’s conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), described the protesters as an “unholy alliance” of far-right elements from Heidenau and “Nazi tourists” who traveled from other parts of Saxony to cause trouble wherever asylum centers were set up.

“I condemn in the strongest possible terms the violent outbursts,”she said“. There was an aggressive mood against foreigners there that isn’t acceptable in any way.

“It is vile how right-wing extremists and neo-Nazis try to spread their hollow, hateful messages”.

Though calm was restored by Saturday morning, clashes erupted later in the day when a group of around 150 far-right activists – facing a similar number of people holding a counter-demonstration – began hurling firecrackers and bottles. But arson attacks on asylum shelters are occurring on an nearly daily basis, tarnishing an image for openness and tolerance that the country has worked hard to build since the racist mass murder of the Nazi era.

In the afternoon, the party was forced to evacuate its headquarters in central Berlin after a bomb threat was called in.

Earlier Monday, German Vice-chancellor and Economics Minister Sigmar Gabriel visited the shelter in Heidenau and sharply condemned the attacks.

A proposal by the European Commission to implement a quota system for European countries to share the number of asylum seekers has so far been rejected by many countries, including the UK. Abdul Munir Rahimi is a migrant from Afghanistan.

Britain’s The Independent and The Telegraph first reported the move, citing Berlin sources on Monday as saying “Germany will become the member state responsible for processing their claims” as the country’s Federal Office for Migration and Refugees confirmed an order suspending the so-called Dublin Protocol.

Munir’s journey included a perilous boat ride from Libya to Greece and then making his way northwards on trucks, trains and on foot.

Pro-Russia separatists in eastern Ukraine agreed to respect the cease-fire and withdraw heavy weaponry while Kiev agreed on political measures, including local elections, that are aimed at increasing local autonomy and restoring Ukrainian sovereignty in separatist-occupied territories.

Asylum-seekers are housed by the state and paid benefits in Germany while their applications are considered.