After several reports showed that Christians were being systematically persecuted in German asylum homes, the problem has now moved from the homes to the streets.
Gottfried Martens, the pastor of a free church in Berlin, claims that while over the last year or so asylum homes have become much safer for Christians, he has seen the persecution of Christians, especially converts from Islam, continue, Die Welt reports.
“Many who were in refugee shelters a year ago now have private homes,” Martens said but claimed that attacks on Christians now occurred on the streets or at metro stations.
Over the past year across the country, there have been several attacks on Christians including the murder of an Afghan woman in Prien am Chiemsee which police believe had a religious motive behind it.
The 38-year-old mother-of-four was stabbed to death in May by a male Muslim Afghan asylum seeker, and while police suspected a religious motive, the local Protestant church denied the act had anything to do with religion.
In September, another attack occurred in Berlin where a 23-year-old Afghan male convert was beaten by young men in a migrant-populated part of the city after they spotted him wearing a cross around his neck.
Ado Greve of the Christian charity Open Doors, which published an extensive report last year regarding violence against Christians, said: “Those who are attacked usually do not want to attract any attention and often feel they are not getting enough help from the authorities. The police can only respond to specific cases.”
Rosemarie Götze, known as Sister Rosemarie, does not think the situation has improved for Christians at all in the Berlin district of Neukölln where the attack against the Afghan convert took place.
Every Sunday, she holds a German-Persian service and hears harsh criticism against Islam from Afghan and Iranian congregants who say they hate Islam and some refuse to speak to Muslims.
Sister Rosemarie said a few speak about the attacks: “They are afraid that they will continue to be attacked or that families who are still abroad may learn that they have become Christians.”