GERMANY: German government condemns reported abuse of refugees

Record ID: 274661

  • Title: GERMANY: German government condemns reported abuse of refugees
  • Date: 29th September 2014
  • Summary: ESSEN, GERMANY (SEPTEMBER 29, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF SECOND REFUGEE SHELTER FROM WHERE MALTREATMENT WAS REPORTED, OPERATED BY SAME "EUROPEAN HOMECARE - SOCIAL SERVICES" WHICH EMPLOYES THE SAME SECURITY FIRM ("SKI") HERE STICKER ON DOOR READING "THIS FACILITY IS GUARDED BY SKI" VARIOUS OF REFUGEES AROUND BUILDING AND LOOKING OUT WINDOW RENATE WALKENHORST, SPOKESWOMAN FO
  • Embargoed: 14th October 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Crime,General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1IVFX24IPGHG2TTGFKN74FCBN
  • Story Text: The German government on Monday (September 29) condemned suspected cases of abuse against refugees in which asylum-seekers were maltreated by security guards and even forced to lie in a bed filled with vomit.
    In one picture a security guard is seen stepping on the head of a handcuffed refugee lying on the floor at a refugee centre while another picture shows a 20-year-old refugee from Algeria being forced to get into a bed covered with vomit.
    In a video, the refugee is heard asking why the guard wants to torture him by forcing him into the vomit-filled bed. "A good Christian turns the other cheek," the guard tells him.
    Authorities in North Rhine-Westphalia state are investigating six security guards and the private company running the two affected shelters said it "deeply regrets" the incidents.
    Renate Walkenhorst, spokeswoman for Essen-based "European Homecare," told reporters outside the Essen refugee camp "the fact that something like this could happen is a catastrophe, for the people here to whom we obviously apologise, no question about it. But it is also a catastrophe for our employees who permanently try to campaign for the asylum seekers and whose work is now being destroyed by such incidents."
    North Rhine-Westphalia's state interior minister Ralf Jaeger said "we will ensure that the companies managing these institutions can no longer use subcontractors. We will ensure that the security personnel working in such institutions all have to undergo a security check."
    In Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel's chief of staff Peter Altmaier told reporters "we are an open country where human rights are being respected and I expect this incident to be investigated and that the necessary consequences be drawn."
    Local authorities said the security guards faced charges of bodily harm. They have interviewed about 96 of the 700 refugees at the centres in the western state where the guards were stationed. The private firm handling security was fired.
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