BY ANGELA DANIELS
Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany has expressed disgust over the sexual attacks and theft suffered by women on New Year’s Eve, at Cologne’s main railway station.
At least, 90 women have made complaints to the police, who have been summoned by the Mayor of Cologne for crisis talks following the sexual attacks and muggings. One woman was raped and others groped in a series of attacks that have shocked Germany.
The shock at the unprecedented scale of the reprehensible attacks and harassment perpetrated by many groups of drunken and aggressive young men will take time to sink in. The assailants described by witnesses and police as having Arab and North African appearance remain on the loose. About 1000 men were involved and they seemed to have been organised, having arrived in groups. However there has been no confirmation that Asylum seekers were involved. City police chief Woolfbang Albers, called it ”a completely new dimension of crime”. A number of rapes were reported but most of the crimes were robbery related. Shockingly, a volunteer policewoman was among those that were raped.
DEMONSTRATION
Around 300 women have demonstrated near the scene of the attacks, holding up placards, some of which indirectly blamed Mrs Merkel. Germany attracted much attention last year, following the Chancellor’s generous acceptance of a record high numbers of refugees from Syria.
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There is currently an intense debate about refugees and migrants in the country. After crisis talks with the police, the Mayor of Cologne, Henriette Reker warned against people jumping to conclusions about the attackers. Mrs Merkel called her
Berlin BBC’s Damien McGuinness stated, ‘Police were deployed outside the station because of the crowds on New Year’s Eve, but failed to spot the many attackers, according to reports’.
It is surprising that about 1000 perpetrators arriving in groups with the reported behaviours were not spotted by the police. It is unclear whether the alleged racial appearance of the gangs were therefore noted only by the women, not the police.
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But Cologne news website, Koelner Stadt-Anzeiger reports that the suspects were already known to the police, because of frequent pick pocketing in and around the station. One wonders whether these are newcomers to the country. If crime was already familiar in the area and police presence was adequate, it begs the question how so many women became so vulnerable. Something does not seem to add up.
A British woman on holiday in Cologne told the BBC fireworks had been thrown at her group by men who spoke neither German nor English. “They were trying to hug us, kiss us. One man stole my friend’s bag,” she told the BBC. “Another tried to get us into his ‘private taxi’. I’ve been in scary and even life-threatening situations and I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
MONSTROUS
Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker said the attacks were “monstrous”. “We cannot allow this to become a lawless area,” she said, insisting that visitors could not come to the city fearing attack.
German Justice Minister Heiko Maas tweeted “we won’t tolerate these abhorrent assaults on women – all those responsible must be brought to justice”.
One man recounted how his partner and 15-year-old daughter were surrounded by a crowd outside the station and he was unable to help. “The attackers grabbed her and my partner’s breasts and groped them between their legs.” These reports are so disturbing that they call for an urgent review on how social misfits like these with no standards are policed by the authorities.
Worryingly, Police in Hambourg have reported similar incidents occurring also on New Year’s Eve, around the party area of St Pauli, sparking fears of a potential repetition in February during the carnival where drunken street-parties are expected. More scary is the view that the attacks are organised by a bunch of migrant losers in what is bound to spark animosity against migrants. However, the justice minister has cautioned against connecting the crimes to the issue of migrants and refugees. A resident of Cologne in Germany told The eye of Media by phone ” this is most shocking and unacceptable. Crime happens everywhere, but the scale of these attacks will unite law abiding Germans to have something done about this. It could potentially lead to riots, Germans should not feel this unsafe in their own territory. If my mother, girlfriend, or friend was groped, robbed or assaulted in this manner, I know how livid I would be. The situation needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency”.
MIGRANT
Insinuations that the migrant population may have perpetrated these crimes may or may not be justified. It would be sad to find that Angela Merkel’s magnanimity last year, towards desperate Asylum-seekers at a time when other countries shut the gates in their face, is being returned with ingratitude. But care must be taken to avoid dangerous labelling of the majority of a community who may be innocent and law-abiding. It is incumbent upon the government to quickly investigate the situation, identify exactly who the culprits were, why the police failed to spot the many attacks throughout the night.
Poor Angela Merkel, surely no one is stage-managing opposition to your generosity! If not, there is work to do with the police and with your guests.
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