(Reuters) Youth riots that erupted in Berlin on New Year’s Eve have rekindled a debate over immigration just as Germany is preparing reforms to lure a new wave of skilled foreign workers to Europe’s largest economy.
Dozens of police officers, firefighters, rescue workers, pedestrians and journalists were injured during attacks as young men lobbed firecrackers and started fires in the streets of the German capital at the turn of the year.
Police detained 145 people, including 45 Germans, 27 Afghans and 21 Syrians, and are still investigating whether the riots were organised or spontaneous.
The majority of the incidents were in neighbourhoods with a higher immigrant population and two-thirds of those detained were foreigners, and a national debate has started up again in newspapers and on television talk shows over how well migrants are integrating into German life.
