German bishop denounces anti-Christian violence by Islamic extremist migrants

A Roman Catholic Archbishop has denounced the violence perpetrated by Islamic extremist migrants against Christians in Germany.

Archbishop Ludwig Schick had expressed concern about newly arrived Muslim migrants, saying some of them "do not understand or accept the liberal order of our country, even some of those who arrived are not refugees but terrorists. That's a fact we have to respond to."

Schick gave his remarks after the German government released its new report showing 100 Christians, including a convert who was murdered, were victims of religiously-motivated violence last year, According to Breitbart News, citing German news outlet Die Welt.

"You can not arrive in our society if you do not value our values," the bishop said. "All sensible and well-intentioned people must resolutely oppose those who, whatever their religion or ideology, are lacking in respect for their fellow human beings. It will not work without such boundaries!" he continued.

Christian migrants, especially those living in asylum homes, have long complained about the violence and threats from their Muslim counterparts.

Last summer, an Afghan woman who had converted from Islam to Christianity was killed in a street by an Afghan Muslim asylum seeker. The 30-year-old Muslim has since been found guilty of the murder and sent to prison by a court last week.

In 2016, persecution watchdog group Open Doors has found that as many as 743 Christian refugees living in camps in Germany have been attacked by their Muslim counterparts.

The group noted that the figure was most likely only the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes to religiously motivated attacks on Christians and Yazidis, and estimated that there are high numbers of unreported cases as well.

The report revealed that many of the refugees have fled from Syria and the surrounding region to escape from terrorist groups and the civil war that has created a great humanitarian crisis. However, the refugees faced traumatizing conditions at the refugee camps, where they had hoped to find safety and security, but found injustice instead.

The group found that Christian refugees at the camps have been "discriminated against, beaten up by and receive death threats from Muslim refugees and partly by the Muslim staff (securities, interpreters, volunteers) on grounds of their religion."

Open Doors called on German authorities to consider implementing different measures to protect religious minorities, such as merging groups in such a way that the proportion of Christians roughly corresponds to that of the Muslims in the camps, as well as increasing the percentage of non-Muslim security staff.