TheHoyerswerda riots (German:Unruhen in Hoyerswerda) werexenophobic riots that lasted from 17 to 23 September 1991 inHoyerswerda, a town in the north-east ofSaxony, Germany.
The riots started with a group of mainly youngneo-Nazis attackingVietnamesestreet hawkers.[1] After the intervention of the police, a hostel used mainly byMozambican contract workers came under attack. In the following night, further riots took place in Hoyerswerda and foreigners were hurt. On the fourth night, stones andpetrol bombs were thrown at an apartment block in Thomas-Müntzer-Straße that housed asylum seekers. During the clashes, 32 people were hurt and 83 were arrested.
After the incidents, the Saxony government evacuated the asylum seekers from Thomas-Müntzer-Straße and many contract workers left the town. In 1991, the wordausländerfrei (free of foreigners) became a synonym for the riot and the 'un-word of the year' in Germany 1991.
The city made efforts to polish its public image and to take action against right-wing radicals. Although the presence of right-wing radicals in the city is less visible, it is still a centre of right-wing extremism. In 2006, theJungen Nationaldemokraten, the youth organisation of the far-rightNational Democratic Party of Germany, organised a demonstration to remember the 1991 riots.[2][3] The police arrested over 50 counter-demonstrators and the demonstration took place.