German politicians and police representatives have called for refugees to be housed according to religion amid widespread attacks on Christians in refugee centres.

The chairman of the governing CDU parliamentary group, Volker Kauder, called on Muslim authorities in Germany to “clearly renounce attacks on Christians in the asylum homes”.

The call comes after recorded incidents of anti-Christian attacks in a number of shelters. In one case, reported by the German daily Die Welt newspaper, Muslim Chechens assaulted Syrian Christians in a camp near Berlin, while the newspaper quotes a spokesperson for the country’s Central Council for Oriental Christians, Jakob Simon, who says that discrimination and blackmail against Christian refugees is now widespread.

“I’ve heard so many reports from Christian refugees who were attacked by conservative Muslims,” said Jacob, who added that recorded incidents were not the full story. “The number of unreported cases is much higher,” he insisted.

Tensions between refugees of differing nationalities, religions and ethnicities have led to outbreaks of violence in numerous German centres, leading to a recommendation by the deputy head of Germany’s police union, Jorg Radek to house refugees separately.

“I think housing, separated according to religion makes perfect sense,” said Radek, who added that Germany’s police are now stretched to the limits of their capabilities by duties in registering the vast numbers of refugees together with ending disputes between those now residing in holding centres.

The call has been echoed at the political level, with Germany’s former interior minister, Hans-Peter Friedrich stating: “It is sad but obviously necessary that we require the separation of asylum seekers according to religion.”