| Series Title | EurActiv |
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| Series Details | 06.01.16 |
| Publication Date | 06/01/2016 |
| Content Type | News |
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The announcement by the German police on 4 January 2016 that about 90 women had reported being robbed, threatened or sexually molested at New Year celebrations in Cologne by young, mostly drunk, men shocked public opinion in the country. Chancellor Angela Merkel expressed shock over the attacks that police said occurred when about 1,000 men split into gangs as officers cleared a square to stop fireworks being thrown from the top of steps into the crowd below. The police described the event as a 'new dimension in crime'. The authorities also unveiled that many victims described the attackers as Arabs or North Africans, further heating up the debate regarding migration and the 'open borders' policy defended by Germany's government for refugees and asylum seekers. By the 7 January 2016 the authorities said they had received more than 120 criminal complaints about robbery and sexual abuse including two reported rapes by perpetrators who allegedly staged orchestrated attacks on revellers in the crowds. By the 9 January 2016 police said that the number of cases reported to them had reached 379, about 40% of which involved allegations of sexual offences. This had risen to over 500 cases by the 10 January 2016. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) made facilitating deportation for asylum seekers who committed crimes an important facet of a new 10-point plan for the nation's future issued as the Mainz Declaration on the 9 January 2016. Also on the 9 January 2016 police in Cologne broke up a protest by the 'anti-Islamisation' group PEGIDA. Water cannons were used to disperse demonstrators protesting after the New Year's Eve attacks on women. Der Spiegel, and many other news and analysis sources in Germany and elsewhere, suggested that the incidents in Cologne, and to a lesser extent in other German cities, had launched a bitter debate over immigration and refugees in Germany - one that could change the country. |
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| Source Link | http://www.euractiv.com/sections/justice-home-affairs/germans-debate-responsibility-sexual-assaults-320716 |
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| Subject Categories | Justice and Home Affairs, Values and Beliefs |
| Countries / Regions | Germany |
