Merkel has proposed changes to
make it easier to deport asylum-
seekers who commit crimes,
after the New Year's Eve sex
attacks on women in Cologne. The attacks, which victims say were
carried out by men of North African
and Arab appearance, have called into
question her open-door migrant policy. The police's handling of the events
has also been sharply criticised. Later, there were reports of clashes
at an anti-immigrant protest in
Cologne. Police in the city have been
attempting to keep apart protesters
from the right-wing anti-immigrant
Pegida movement and a left-wing
counter-demonstration. Police used water cannon to disperse
Pegida protesters as violence flared
after a rally which heard
condemnation of Mrs Merkel's
policies. Saturday has also seen protests by
feminist groups over violence against
women in the city. Women describe 'terrible' assaults Cologne mayor's 'code of conduct' attacked The search for answers 'Consequences' Mrs Merkel, speaking after a meeting
of her Christian Democrat party
leadership in Mainz, proposed
tightening the law on denying the right
of asylum for those who have
committed crimes. Under the new plans, those on
probation could be deported too. "When crimes are committed, and
people place themselves outside the
law... there must be consequences,"
she told reporters after the meeting. Under current German laws, asylum
seekers are only forcibly sent back if
they have been sentenced to at least
three years' imprisonment, and
providing their lives are not at risk in
their countries of origin. The move, which will still need
parliamentary approval, follows the
New Year's Eve attacks, which
sparked outrage in Germany. Victims described chaos as dozens of
segxwal assaults and robberies were
carried out with little apparent
response from the authorities around
Cologne station. Twenty-one people are being
investigated for segxwal assault. Merkel under pressure -
BBC's Anna Holligan in
Cologne Angela Merkel's challenge is to
reassure an increasingly pessimistic
public that she has a long-term plan.
The chancellor showed compassion
when she welcomed more than a
million refugees and migrants into Germany in 2015. Now she is under
pressure to make clear there are
limits to German tolerance. Anti-immigration campaigners have
seized on the Cologne incident as an
example of what they see as the
failure of the country's asylum policy.
The prominence of the far-right Pegida
movement was fading. It is now using the attacks as a propaganda tool. On the other side of what is a
widening chasm, established Islamic
groups here have expressed fears
that the actions of a few may
jeopardise the future of many. With tension rising and tolerance
waning, Germany's doors remain
open, but many here are increasingly
asking: For how long and at what
cost? The identification of the attackers in
Cologne as North African or Arab in
appearance has caused alarm in
Germany because of the influx of
more than a million migrants and
refugees in the past year. Meanwhile, German officials have
warned that anti-immigrant groups
have been trying to use the attacks to
stir up hatred. Similar attacks to those seen in
Cologne were also reported in
Hamburg and in Stuttgart on New
Year's Eve. In Bielefeld, hundreds of
men tried to force their way into
nightclubs, Die Welt reports (in German). Police said several women had
alleged segxwal assault. As the investigation into the Cologne
attacks continues, federal authorities
say they have identified 18 asylum-
seekers among 31 suspects. They
are suspected of theft and violence,
but not segxwal assault. The suspects include nine Algerians,
eight Moroccans, four Syrians, five
Iranians, two Germans and one each
from Iraq, Serbia and the US. Separately to the federal investigation
focusing on what happened at the
station itself, Cologne police are
investigating 21 people in connection
with the segxwal assaults. It is not
known how many of these are asylum seekers. The North Rhine-Westphalia state
police have recorded 170 complaints
of crimes, 117 of which involve segxwal
assault. There were two allegations of
rape. On Friday, the chief of police for
North Rhine-Westphalia was
suspended. Wolfgang Albers had
been accused of holding back
information about the attacks, in
particular about the origin of the suspects.
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