One refugee said racist attacks left him so scared he plans to return home

Nation has seen record numbers of asylum seekers this year fleeing Syria

Refugees from war-torn Syria claim racism in Germany has become so extreme they want to go home as a growing anti-Muslim movement sees soaring attacks on foreigners.

The nation has been gripped by a spate of anti-foreigners rallies, violence and arson attacks against refugee homes or would-be shelters as hundreds of thousands seek refuge in the country.

This year has already seen about 200 arson and other attacks against refugee housing while support for anti-Muslim movement, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), has been growing.

Refugees line up to apply for asylum in front of the reception center for refugees in Berlin, Germany

A mother with two children walk inside a temporary tent camp in Dresden, Germany where there were protests by right-wing supporters that resulted in scuffles with both refugee-supporters and police

Two children sleep on the ground near their belongings in front of the reception center for refugees in Berlin, Germany as officials estimate half a million migrants will seek asylum this year

Support for anti-Muslim movement, Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamization of the West (PEGIDA), has been growing.

The growing tensions between citizens and refugees mean some asylum seekers are so scared of attacks they are considering going home.

Taher arrived in Germany a month ago, risking his life to fleeing the atrocities of war-torn Syria and making the long, difficult journey across the Mediterranean.

But in a shocking admission, the 27-year-old said he had already been attacked by a gang, who piled out of a car and hit him, and has had enough of the xenophobia he has experienced in Germany.

'I want to return to Syria - very afraid here,' he said in broken English this week, speaking outside a refugee centre in the small eastern town of Freital, which has gained national notoriety for ugly protests against asylum seekers.

Some refugees, here pictured queuing inside a temporary tent camp in Dresden, Germany, claim they have become so afraid of racist attacks in the country they want to go home

A refugee family sits in a tent where they spent the night in front of the reception center for refugees in Berlin, Germany where there has been growing tensions between citizens and foreigners

The German Red Cross have created an emergency tent city accommodation for refugees in Dresden

The tent camp is expected to accommodate up to 800 mainly Syrian refugees but is located in an area with growing numbers of protests against the new arrivals

Last week far-right thugs attacked Red Cross staff setting up a tent city for 800 mostly Syrian refugees

He also showed a letter, written in German and Arabic, showing he had withdrawn his application for political asylum.

'I come from Syria because I was afraid - but here big afraid,' said Taher, who did not want to give his full name, speaking in halting English.

Germany is currently struggling to cope with a record influx of refugees with 500,000 expected this year, fleeing war and poverty in Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, African nations and recession-stricken Balkan countries.

The country has a generous asylum system originally meant to help atone for its Nazi past which has opened the gates to Europe's biggest influx of refugees - sparking ugly reactions that recall Germany's darkest days.

At the end of last year, Chancellor Angela Merkel was forced to call on Germans to turn their backs on the growing anti-Muslim movement which she condemned as racist and full of hatred, and said Europe's biggest economy must welcome people fleeing conflict and war.

But that hasn't stopped rapid growing support for PEGIDA's marches where rallies peaked early this year at 25,000.

Participants of a right-wing NPD (Nationaldemocratic Party of Germany) demonstration shouting slogans during the erection of a tent camp for refugees

Supporters of the Pegida movement, including one holding a sign that reads: 'Stop asylum cheaters, each one is one too many, go home! No welcome! Deportation!', march in Dresden

A Pegida leader spoke out against any form of violence against refugees yet called for a radical change to Europe's liberal policy of accepting so many refugees and migrants. Pegida is also critical of Islam and many of its supporters see Muslim immigration as a threat to Germany

Pegida supporters protest as Germany struggles to accommodate and process a record-number of asylum seekers from the Middle East, Africa and the Balkan

This week, tensions escalated when unknown assailants blew up the unoccupied car of a pro-refugee politician of the far-left Linke party, Michael Richter (pictured)

Leading the charge in Freital, near Dresden, is one of PEGIDA's clone groups, which goes by the localised acronym of FRIGIDA and pledges online that 'our town will stay clean - Freital is free'.

The small town, in what was once communist East Germany, has become a symbol of the upsurge in hostility and has seen shouting matches and clashes between pro- and anti-asylum activists since June.

This week, tensions escalated when unknown assailants blew up the unoccupied car of a pro-refugee politician of the far-left Linke party, Michael Richter.

The Die Linke parliamentary group released a statement after the bombing in front of Mr Richter's home which said: 'The rule of law cannot stand idly by the increasing violence against refugees and against people like Michael Richter, who take a stand for the well-being of refugees.'

A spokesman for the group added that the politician had often been threatened for his work, by far right or racist groups.

'The situation is becoming increasingly tense... Freital is deeply divided,' said Steffi Brachtel, 40, who helps organise anti-FRIGIDA rallies.

Officers of the German Federal Police control a refugee at a first registration point on a platform of the railway station in Rosenheim, southern Germany

A refugee, who arrived with an Eurocity train at the railroad station in Rosenheim, is one of hundreds of refugees who arrive daily in the border region

Officers check a refugee at the first registration point who is fleeing his own country only to be faced with a spate of anti-foreigners rallies, violence and arson attacks

She said Freital had turned 'brown' - a reference to Nazi uniforms - after the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, but that it was now 'turning dark brown'.

German actor Til Schweiger, who starred in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds also became a target of abuse on social media after he posted an appeal for people in Hamburg to donate clothing and toys for refugee.

While in April, a Kurdish student from Syria was shot by neo-Nazis in the German city of Leipzig.

Dresden - a magnet for neo-Nazi groups embittered by the city's war-time destruction - again made headlines last week when far-right thugs attacked Red Cross staff setting up a tent city for 800 mostly Syrian refugees.

Hundreds of pro-refugee activists on Friday clashed with supporters of the far-right NPD party, leaving three people injured.

In protests against the imminent arrival of 280 refugees outside a converted hotel, neo-Nazis raised their arms in Hitler salutes, mingling in larger crowds of people shouting 'criminal foreigners' and 'asylum seeker pigs'.

Stickers on lampposts advise the refugees to 'keep fleeing', with the English-language message 'Refugees not welcome'.

Migrants and refugees seeking asylum in Germany wait outside the Central Registration Office for Asylum Seekers

The processing periods for asylum applications can take years and during that time the applicants are housed at refugee centers across the country, which is putting intense strain on both local and regional budgets as well as causing friction in smaller communities

The lengthy queues reflect the huge influx of migrants coming into the country which is seen to have a 'soft' immigration system

Men, women and children, who have fled atrocities, walk to the first registration point of the German federation police

Across Germany, volunteers have given food, clothes, toys and German lessons in over-crowded refugee camps, some of which house thousands in converted sports halls, former military bases and even tent cities.

But several states, notably Bavaria and Baden-Wuerttemberg, have complained about carrying an unfair burden and demanded more federal funds for the food, housing and medical treatment of asylum seekers.

Political parties are discussing whether a new immigration law is needed to sort political and 'economic refugees', reduce backlogs and better integrate accepted immigrants into the labour market.

A key question is which nations are deemed 'safe countries of origin' - meaning their citizens can't get asylum. The list now includes Serbia, Bosnia and Macedonia.

Bavarian premier Horst Seehofer wants all Western Balkan states to be declared safe and speed up the deportation of unsuccessful asylum seekers from the region.

Amid the heated debate, the German Institute for Human Rights warned that 'we are increasingly hearing statements that recall the early 1990s' - when newly reunified Germany was gripped by a wave of attacks on foreigners.