In one scene, a guard brutally kicks and batters a refugee lying on the ground; another scene shows a guard trying to kick an asylum seeker with an extended leg. In a reception center for refugees (“Zentrale Anlaufstelle für Geflüchtete,” or Zast) in the city of Halberstadt in the eastern German state of Saxony-Anhalt, employees of a private security firm have reportedly assaulted asylum seekers.

That’s according to the state's interior ministry, which made the announcement on Friday after it had learned about the incident earlier on the same day.

In the scenes from two video sequences uploaded to YouTube, four security personnel can be seen approaching and separating two jousting refugees. Seconds later, two of the guards each push one of the two asylum seekers to the ground; then, one of the two guards kicks and punches one of the refugees.

In the second video, two other guards are seen each tripping up the second refugee once and thrusting him to the ground. The videos were published on April 14, 2019. 

According to the ministry, the four guards involved were immediately suspended and an investigation had been launched into their conduct and the conduct of other personnel who witnessed the incident without interfering. 

"There are things that are absolutely unacceptable. End of story," said Saxony-Anhalt’s Interior Minister Holger Stahlknecht. He further said they would also examine whether there had been similar incidents in this accommodation.

In May, news broke that asylum seekers at the refugee processing center in Fürstenfeldbruck outside Munich were spending months living in what they claim are inhumane conditions. They complained about cramped rooms, filthy toilets, suicide attempts and frequent canteen fights, among other things.

Who shot the videos?

It is not clear who uploaded the videos which were shot from an upper floor of a building in which other migrant housing is located. According to Stahlknecht, both video recordings now needed to be secured and analyzed. 

The interior ministry of Saxony-Anhalt said there are some 1,000 asylum seekers currently residing in the Halberstadt reception center. The center is designated to function as an initial registration point only for people who have arrived recently. Ten guards are stationed at the facility at all times - around the clock, seven days a week.

The security firm in question has reportedly been staffing the reception center since December 2017.

With material from dpa, epd