Germany's police union and women's rights groups accused the authorities on Tuesday, October 7 of playing down reports of harassment, sexual assault and even rape at refugee shelters because they feared a backlash against asylum seekers, accordiing to Reuters.

Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere called on Germans to avoid succumbing to a blanket suspicion of the hundreds of thousands of migrants arriving in the country, saying an unbelievable number of rumors were being spread on the Internet.

But police union chief Rainer Wendt said he believed that authorities in Germany's federal states, which are responsible for housing asylum seekers, were playing down the problem of assaults on women in the shelters.

With public opinion hardening on the refugee influx, German authorities appear anxious to avoid giving extreme-right groups any opportunity to stir up hostility towards migrants, many of whom are Muslims including those fleeing the Syrian civil war.

No comprehensive official figures are available on the extent of the problem at the shelters, which local authorities are setting to provide temporary accommodation around the country in places such as sports halls and empty office blocks.

But Wendt said the police were reporting cases to the state governments, which have their own interior ministers. These people should take note, he said: "The interior ministers would be well advised to have a look at their own reports to know what actually happens on our streets at night and in the shelters."

Wendt said that a high number of cases went unreported as women rarely dared to file complaints with police or public prosecutors. However, Barbara Helfrich of the charity Paritaetischer Bund in the central state of Hesse, said some women had come forward.

In a recent open letter, several charities alleged crimes had been committed a city shelter in the state. "There are several cases of rape and sexual assault and increasingly even reports on forced prostitution," the joint letter said, adding that these were not isolated incidents.

With men accounting for about 70 percent of asylum seekers, other groups across the country have demanded gender-segregated accommodation and safe zones for women.

At least 800,000 asylum seekers are expected in Germany this year, and Chancellor Angela Merkel's popularity has fallen with polls showing many voters believe she is taking too soft a line on allowing them into the country.