Germany’s security agency, the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, warned that 7,900 Salafi jihadists within the country may attempt to recruit asylum seekers to participate in terrorist activities, UK’s Express reports.
“We are very concerned Islamists in Germany are trying, under the cover of humanitarian assistance, to exploit the situation of the refugees for their own ends and to proselytise and recruit among asylum-seekers,” agency head Hans-Georg Maassen said.
As of now, 740 Islamists left Germany to join jihadists ranks in Syria and Iraq, and 20 percent of them were female. One-third of this group returned to Germany, and 120 of were killed, Express points out.
Germany took in 80,000 refugees in recent weeks, and not all of them are from Syria. According to Sky News, many are Afghans, Senegalese, Albanians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis.
Up to 1 million refugees are expected to arrive by the end of the year, The Washington Post notes.
Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović blamed German Chancellor Angela Merkel for Europe’s refugee crisis telling the Croatian TV, “Mrs. Merkel called them, and now she’s pulled the handbrake by saying Germany cannot absorb all these economic migrants.”
“She makes out as if she wasn’t aware that pulling the handbrake when so many cars were on the road would cause chaos,” she added. “This needs to be resolved now.”