Germany is experiencing a "part-brutalisation" of its society amid a surge in attacks on refugee and migrant shelters in the country, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned.

There have been 449 assaults on such centres so far this year, the minister told Funke Media Group in an interview to be published on Monday. If that pace is maintained over the rest of the year, the figure could match last year's total of 1,029.

There were only 62 reported attacks on shelters for migrants and refugees in 2013 and 199 in 2014, but the arrival of more than one million migrants in Germany last year led to a significant increase in assaults, de Maiziere said.

In addition to the attacks on centres, there were 654 crimes against migrants and asylum seekers in Germany, including 107 violent incidents, he said.

A significant proportion of the suspected perpetrators had not been known to the police for similar offences and came from areas neighbouring refugee camps, the minister said.

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