An Iranian man has been severely beaten for converting to Christianity inside a German refugee camp.

The man is thought to have to told some Afghan migrants that he had embraced Christianity, German newspaper Die Welt reports. A few days later one Afghan beat him unconscious with a baton, declaring that his conversion was a "sin."

It is thought the assailant was one of those he told about his conversion.

Officials in Hamburg-Eidelstedt, Germany, have said they are investigating the incident after it took between 15 and 20 people to pull the attacker away.

A study on violence in migrant centres was published earlier this month and revealed that conflict is part of "everyday life" for the inhabitants and is only likely to increase.

Religious tensions, researchers said, were the "ultimate and primary cause" of violence in German refugee camps.

"Violent behaviour and aggressive verbal confrontations, threats or insults and serious damage to property were very commonly reported, indicating they are part of everyday life in the hired accommodation," the report read.

Indeed examples of fighting fuelled by religious tensions in refugee camps are easy to find.

Riots broke out in another German refugee camp in August after an Afghan tore out pages from a Qu'ran and threw them in the toilet.

The man was chased by 20 Syrians and at least 17 people were injured in he violence, including the camp's security guards who tried to protect the alleged offender.

Other examples of violence include clashes at a camp near the German city of Kassel on 28 September which left 14 people injured, including three policemen.

Furthermore, 300 refugees brawled in a camp in another German city, Braunschweig, on 7 October in violence that was allegedly sparked by a theft.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, has been praised for her open-door acceptence of refugees but is now facing a backlash from within her own party who criticise her policy as unsustainable.