Merkel has defended the open-door immigration policy, but said that tough measures would be taken against the Cologne attackers.
“The right to asylum can be lost if someone is convicted, on probation or jailed,” Merkel said during a meeting of her Christian Democrats party.
“Serial offenders who repeatedly rob or repeatedly affront women must feel the full force of the law,” Merkel added, and further admitted:
“The events of New Year’s Eve have dramatically exposed the challenge we’re facing, revealing a new facet that we haven’t yet seen.”
New Year’s Eve attacks occurred in other German cities as well, including Hamburg, where 70 women filed sexual harassment complaints.
BBC News reported that refugees have also suffered attacks, however, with Cologne police investigating the beating of six Pakistanis and a Syrian man that reportedly took place on Sunday evening.
Authorities are searching for a group of around 20 suspects who might have been involved in the apparent hate-crime.
Political leaders have been urging for calm in the nation, though Justice Minister Heiko Maas told the Bild newspaper that the apparent pre-arranged nature of the gang assaults on women on New Year’s Eve will have to be investigated.
“If such a horde gathers in order to commit crimes, that appears in some form to be planned,” Maas said. “Nobody can tell me that this was not co-ordinated or prepared.”
Cologne chief of police Wolfgang Albers has since been suspended, after admitting that police made mistakes in withholding information about the Cologne attacks, in particular about the origin of the suspects.
Source : Christian Post