Berlin? No, the Munich Wall to hide migrants
THIS towering 12ft barrier – higher than the Berlin Wall – was demanded by residents of a German city to separate their homes from a refugee centre.
Locals in Neuperlach Sud, a Munich suburb, complained about 160 young migrants being sent there, fearing noise and rowdy behaviour. Some Germans say the wall is proof of the alienation many feel with chancellor Angela Merkel’s refugee policies and her insistence that integration is working.
Locals in a housing development less than 100ft from the refugee centre went to court to get the barrier approved. They feared the value of their homes would plummet if there was nothing to separate them from the migrants, who could be there for years. Engineers said the wall had to be high to provide effective sound insulation.
It is slightly higher than the Berlin Wall, which stood at 11ft 10in during the Cold War to separate East and West Germany. ‘Donald Trump wants to build a wall for Mexico, and we in Munich Neuperlach build one to keep us safe from refugees,’ one couple told a local newspaper.
Meanwhile, violence against migrants has been on the rise in Germany. On Friday, a group of 30 far-Right hooligans attacked three young Afghan refugees in Heidenau, near Dresden.
The migrants needed hospital treatment. Two men were arrested and face charges of causing grievous bodily harm.
In nearby Bautzen, neo-Nazis have reportedly hunted refugees through the streets, hurling stones and racist insults.
Since the beginning of the year there have been 1,800 reported attacks against asylum seekers and their accommodation.