Protests in Cologne are triggered by numerous attacks on women on the New Year’s Eve. 516 crimes were recorded by the local police. Almost half of them are sex assaults by gangs of migrants. Locals are discourages by recent violent events.
According to the police records, a lot of similar attacks have taken place in other towns and cities of Germany. However, the scale of the attacks in Cologne has shocked Germany.
Minister of Justice Heiko Maas stated in an interview he believes the sexual assaults in Cologne were “coordinated and prepared” in advance.
Locals who witnessed the crimes report that nearly 1,000 young men arrived in large groups at the central square around Cologne cathedral with the specific intention of carrying out attacks on women. The men were of Arab or North African appearance.
German nationals have been voicing concern over the “open door” policy pursued by Chancellor Angela Merkel. On January 9, people gathered to express their protest. All of them called for deportation of illegal migrants out of the country.
The outrageous behavior of migrants made Angela Merkel think over their deportation out of Germany.
On January 10, right-wing groups, headed by the anti-Islam Pegida movement, arranged a protest after a wave of sexual assults in Cologne. Pro-migrant activists held a simultaneous counter-demonstration. The number of protesters totaled 10,000.
According to European media, 1,700 policemen were deployed in Cologne to tackle demonstrators, who threw firecrackers and bottles. Several arrests were made.
Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted that "we won't tolerate these abhorrent assaults on women - all those responsible must be brought to justice". However, not all Germans share the official stance. The opinion poll showed that a half of German nationals think that refugees can pose threat to the country.
Importantly, in 2015 Germany accepted about 1 mln refugees fleeing from war zones. At present, Berlin is going to reconsider the current migrant policy and cut the number of refugees to 200,000 per year.
On the photo, the protest in Cologne, January 9.
On the photo, anti-migrant protesters, January 9.
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