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Google drops map of refugee sites

BERLIN — Google has deleted an anonymous map depicting the location of dozens of refugee centers in Germany amid concern it could make them a target for anti-immigrant attacks and hate crimes.

Google took the action because the map violates the Internet search engine’s rules, it said on Friday. The diagram, entitled ‘‘No refugee camp in my neighborhood,’’ displayed red arrows pinpointing the shelters, and provided specific addresses for many of them.

‘‘Whenever content is illegal, we remove it from our products,’’ Lena Heuermann, a spokeswoman for Google in Germany, said in an e-mailed statement. ‘‘That’s also how we handle content that violates our guidelines and terms of use, which also include inflicting damage or promoting hatred.’’

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The step came a day after an empty shelter preparing to take in 67 people fleeing conflict zones caught fire in Reichertshofen, a town in Bavaria. Police are investigating for possible arson.

The map is linked prominently on the website of a right-wing extremist group active mainly in southern and eastern Germany.

The number of attacks on refugee shelters in Germany tripled to 170 last year, according to a report by the Interior Ministry. Last week, unknown perpetrators attacked a building housing 150 asylum seekers in the state of Saxony. No one was injured.

An influx of refugees, mainly from war-torn Syria, Kosovo, and Albania, is stirring public debate as towns and cities strain budgets while struggling to accommodate the surge. The number of asylum seekers in Germany may double to 450,000 this year.

Bloomberg News