BERLIN, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- German police are investigating several alleged instances of abuse of migrants to the country, authorities said.
Six security guards are under investigation for physical abuse of refugees at a shelter in Burbach, and charges of criminal assault were begun against guards in three cases at an Essen shelter.
The German government expressed disgust at images allegedly showing guards at the Burbach facility forcing a migrant to lie in his own vomit, and another showing a guard pinning a man to the floor with his boot on the man's head.
"We are a humane country. In Germany, people's dignity is respected," said Steffen Seibert, spokesman for Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Rising asylum applications in Germany of migrants -- most fleeing poverty and war in North Africa, Somalia and the Middle East -- have caused an increase in the need for security guards at shelters. While Germany welcomes migrants, as do all European Union countries, 116,000 applications were submitted between January and August this year. Shelters in Germany are generally run by for-profit businesses contracted by the government.
"If this is the consequence of outsourcing, of low finances and a lack of checks on the suitability of guards, then one needs to seriously think hard," said Julia Klockner, a legislator and member of Merkel's coalition.
The rising number of migrants has stressed the capabilities of security firms.
"It's a scandal because Germany is not in a position to guarantee the safety of people who have come here seeking protection and refuge, but instead is trying to cut corners and save money wherever possible while turning a blind eye," said Sebastian Fiedler of the Federation of German Detectives.
