New Year’s riots in Germany spur calls for a ban on fireworks

Germans have expressed outrage and called for a ban on fireworks and firecrackers following a night of New Year's rioting and attacks on emergency personnel in Berlin and other cities.

In the capital alone, 41 police officers suffered injuries, and there were numerous attacks on firefighters.

Franziska Giffey, the mayor, has planned a gathering for young people and called the violence “completely unacceptable.”

Numerous figures emphasised how many of the young people have immigrant backgrounds.

“We’re not talking about immigration labels but about what went wrong in the social flashpoints,” the mayor of Berlin said, claiming that young Berliners’ upbringing was more of the problem.

Violence was not restricted to just Berlin.

In towns like Hamburg, Bonn, Dortmund, and Essen, there have been instances of emergency vehicles being targeted with rockets, firecrackers, and even a starting pistol.

The majority of the 145 people detained during the Berlin riots, according to the police, were men. 

The majority of the 145 people detained during the Berlin riots, according to the police, were men. 

Leading conservative politician Jens Spahn mentioned “unregulated migration, failed integration” in response to the findings, which sparked a larger discussion.

Some critics questioned the value of separating the suspects’ nationalities. 

Ethnic or religious background should only be revealed where there is a valid public interest, according to Germany’s press code.

Reem Alabali-Radovan, the commissioner for government integration, urged that offenders be punished for their conduct rather than “according to their presumed origins, as some are doing currently.”

Although a discussion of the causes of the riots was necessary, interior minister Nancy Faeser argued that it shouldn’t be used to incite “racist resentment.”

She did, however, tell the Funke media group that “certain young men with a migration background, who hold our state in contempt, commit acts of violence and who can hardly be reached via education and integration programmes” were a serious problem in Germany’s big cities.

A part of the issue is believed to have resulted from the temporary removal of the prohibition on the selling of fireworks and firecrackers over the new year.

Pyrotechnics will be permitted between the hours of 6 p.m. on New Year’s Eve and 6 a.m. on New Year’s Day, according to officials, following a two-year suspension on sales during the Covid pandemic to prevent hospitals from coming under further pressure. 

One of the police unions suggested that future sales should be absolutely banned.

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