Migrant students cancel field trip due to racist attack in Germany

By Anadolu staff

BERLIN (AA) - A group of migrant students had to cancel their field trip after being racially insulted and threatened by right-wing extremists in the eastern state of Brandenburg, authorities said on Monday.

Berlin’s Education Minister Katharina Gunther-Wunsch said the students from the Lina Morgenstern School safely retuned to the city, and they were offered psychological support after the racist incident.

“I would like to thank the school administration, and the teachers who were with the students, and took the right decisions there,” she said in a statement.

According to the BZ newspaper, around 20 students aged between 15 and 16, were on a study trip with their teachers when the racist incident occurred at a campsite near the Frauensee lake.

A group of right-wing extremists at the camping area first shouted racist slurs against the students, and later threatened them with violence, and some of them also tried to break into the hostel the students were staying, according to the report.

The teachers had to cancel the study trip for the safety of the students, and they all left the campsite with police escorts on Saturday night.

Germany has witnessed growing racism in recent years, fueled by the propaganda of far-right groups and parties, which have exploited the refugee crisis and attempted to stoke fear of immigrants.

Neo-Nazis and right-wing extremists carried out at least 1,138 violent attacks last year. At least 478 people were injured in these attacks, according to official figures.