Germany has been shocked by the violent, racist attack on two young Ghanaian girls by a group of 20-odd youths shopping in the town of Grevesmühlen in the northern German state of Mecklenburg-Pomerania early Friday night.

According to a police statement, on Saturday, the young attackers allegedly kicked the younger of the two girls, aged eight, in the face while shouting xenophobic slogans. In fact, when the parents of the girls rushed to the scene, they were also attacked, with the father also slightly injured from the fight with the young men.

“Abyssal hatred and inhumanity”

“The injured eight-year-old girl is as young as my daughter,” said state premier Manuela Svesich from the Social Democrats in a message. “We must not let hatred poison our society and violence threaten our children,” he says, stressing that the “heinous attack must have swift consequences.”

The mayor of the city, Lars Praler, speaks for “a racially motivated attack, bottomless hatred and inhumanity that cannot be justified” and continues:

“We live in very difficult times, where complex problems are in the streets and those who use silly slogans and simple solutions find it easy to attack people.” The mayor urges the majority of democratic citizens not to raise their voices louder, setting a good example.

And Mecklenburg-West Pomerania’s Interior Minister Christian Pegel strongly condemned the attack and noted: “One should not attack people, especially children and certainly not for racist reasons” underlining that “there is no place for racism in our society.”