[Iran Press TV] A senior German official says nearly 1,000 offenses were perpetrated in the country against refugee shelters in 2015, a five-fold annual rise amid an influx of asylum seekers.Speaking at a presser in the German capital of Berlin on Monday, the country's Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere said some 923 offenses against refugees and refugee facilities were recorded in 2015, against 175 the previous year.
He said the offenses included 177 acts of violence, three attempted killings and hundreds of non-violent acts such as painting graffiti, the use of Nazi symbols and incitements to hatred.
"A decline in the number of political crimes is not to be expected in 2016 unfortunately," the minister said, adding that in this year's first quarter there had been 347 crimes against refugee centers.
Maiziere noted that the refugee topic was the focus of politically motivated crime in Germany last year, when the country took in over one million refugees and asylum seekers.