In Germany, migrants and refugees face an anti-immigrant backlash after Monday’s truck attack on a Christmas market in Berlin, which left 12 people dead and 48 wounded. Authorities across Europe are hunting for suspect Anis Amri, a Tunisian ex-convict who had been denied asylum in Germany and was considered a security risk. This is Yaser, a 32 year-old refugee from Syria.
Yaser: “We don’t feel good, as refugees, after what happened. Whenever someone commits a crime in Germany, regardless of what his nationality is, we, as refugees, become suspects.”
Monday’s attack is threatening to undermine Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy, which last year saw over 1 million migrants and refugees resettled in Germany. On Wednesday, members of the far-right AfD party protested outside the chancellor’s offices, holding placards reading, “Merkel, you have the blood of your people on your hands,” and, “There will be war.”