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MAGDEBURG: When Haben Gebregergish first immigrated to the German city of Magdeburg seven years ago, the Eritrean immigrant was walking to the supermarket with her child when an intoxicated woman approached her on the street.
At the time, Gebregergish did not speak German well enough to comprehend what the woman was saying. But Gebregergish says that when the woman threw a beer bottle at her head, she immediately understood.
It was one of her first encounters with racism, but certainly not the last. In the aftermath of a deadly attack at a Christmas market in Magdeburg late last year, Gebregergish and other migrants who have settled in the city say they have experienced a sharp increase in racism and anti-immigration sentiments.
“We are the same as you,” Gebregergish said earlier this month. “We are not different. Just like you, we have feelings. Sometimes we are sad, sometimes we are happy, just like everyone else.”
The Christmas market violence was one of five high-profile attacks committed by immigrants in the past nine months that have made migration a key issue as the country heads toward an early election on Sunday. The suspect, a Saudi doctor, drove into the holiday market teeming with shoppers and left five women and a 9-year-old boy dead and 200 people injured.
The suspect arrived in Germany in 2006 and had received permanent residency, and authorities say the suspect does not fit the usual profile of perpetrators of extremist attacks. He is being held in custody as authorities investigate him.
Just one day after Dec. 20 violence, there was a large right-wing demonstration in Magdeburg, and verbal and physical attacks on people with a migrant background have increased significantly in the city since then, according to the German-Syrian Cultural Association in Magdeburg.
“The migrant community and the advice centers report that attacks have increased by more than 70 percent here in the city,” said Saeeid Saeeid, who came to Germany from Syria seven years ago and is a member of the association. “Racism already exists here and everywhere. But it has increased enormously since the attack.”
Ketevan Asatiani-Hermann, newly elected chair of the board for the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration in Magdeburg, said victims of racist attacks in the city often do not feel support from politicians or police.
“The hatred has always been there, people just didn’t dare to say it so clearly before,” said Asatiani-Hermann, who came to Magdeburg in 2011 from Georgia.
Officers sometimes target or search the victims first before the perpetrator, she alleged, and they also worry reporting an attack could have a negative impact on their residence status.
The Magdeburg Police Department did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Mayor Simone Borris, in a statement, said: “Cohesion and community are fundamental values of a city that are inviolable.” The mayor also referred media to online services for migrants, and said the city’s Cooperation with the Advisory Council for Integration and Migration will be expanded.
Magdeburg is located in the former communist east, an area where the far-right and anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has its highest support. The party is polling in second place going into the upcoming election with about 20 percent support and is fielding its first candidate to lead the country.
Even though it’s highly unlikely to take a share of power soon, it has become a factor that other politicians can’t ignore and has helped shape Germany’s debate on migration.
The election’s outcome — and a potential gain in influence for AfD — could have a large impact on Magdeburg’s politics and everyday life, Asatiani-Hermann said.
Saeeid said the city’s migrants feel alone, and want to hear directly from their elected officials to address their concerns.
“We will not allow Magdeburg to become a playing field for racism and hatred,” he said.