After the fire in an accommodation for Ukrainian refugees in Groß Strömkendorf near Wismar in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the police suspect a political background. The police headquarters in Rostock announced on Thursday that state security had taken over the investigation. Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania’s Prime Minister Manuela Schwesig (SPD) tweeted: “One thing must be clear to everyone: people fleeing war need our protection and our support. Incitement and violence will not be tolerated.”
According to the district, 14 refugees from Ukraine, who were looked after by three employees, lived in the former “Schäfereck” hotel. Nobody was physically injured in the fire on Wednesday evening. However, the thatched house burned down completely. On Monday, the police had been reported to a swastika graffiti in the entrance area.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) reacted with horror: “People who found protection in Germany before Putin’s war had to be rescued from the flames,” she said in Berlin. “The investigations are ongoing and now all the backgrounds have to be clarified.” She thanked the emergency services for being able to save everyone from the house. It “is very fortunate that everyone was unharmed,” said the minister.
“Once again, you have to worry about your own safety”
Andrei Bondarchuk, the head of the refugee shelter, who himself is from Ukraine, told him North German Radio: “I find it very frightening that you arrive in a country where you are safe and protected and suddenly you have to leave your home again. You have to fear for your own safety again and experience this insecurity again has ever experienced.” Bondarchuk himself tried to extinguish the initially small fire. However, it quickly spread to the thatched roof.
District administrator Tino Schomann (CDU), a member of the volunteer fire brigade, received the alarm himself at 9:20 p.m. and drove directly to the scene of the fire. “It looked like arson to me,” he told NDR. Now fire experts are to determine on site when they can start their work, depends on the stability of the ruin. The district was able to house the refugees in other accommodations.
Mayor Tino Schmidt (SPD) told the German Press Agency: “I’m shocked and upset.” So far there have been no signs of right-wing activities in the region. You have a very good relationship with the war refugees. At times, up to 170 people from Ukraine were accommodated in the hotel. In the summer, a happy summer party was celebrated together with the refugees and the DRK, which looks after the facility.
The Protestant refugee commissioner and Berlin bishop Christian Stäblein wrote in a statement: “Anyone who attacks refugees attacks us all.” The people of Ukraine escaped the horrors of war. “They look to us for protection and security. We have to take responsibility for that.” The Vice President of the Rostock Police Headquarters, Michael Peters, was also dismayed. “Any attack on refugees or their shelters is also an attack on our core values. Such an attack is both shocking and unacceptable,” he said. The investigation into the fire has top priority. According to initial investigations, the police estimate the damage to property at a higher six-digit sum.