Spotlight: Germany debates over refugee policy after Cologne assaults

German authorities said on Monday that nearly all the suspects in a rash of New Year's Eve violence against women in Cologne had an immigrant background.

Ralf Jaeger, Interior Minister of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, has released initial findings of a criminal probe into the crime string that has piled pressure on German Chancellor Angela Merkel over her stance toward refugees.

On New Year's Eve, a group of about 1,000 men have surrounded, harassed and robbed, especially women in Cologne. Police said on Sunday that 516 complaints related to the assaults in the western German city had been lodged so far.

In addition, similar violent attacks were also reported in other German cities.

"Witnesses' statements, the report of the police in Cologne as well as descriptions by the federal police indicate that nearly all the people who committed these crimes have an immigrant background," Jaeger said Monday during a special session of the Internal Affairs Committee of North Rhine-Westphalia's state parliament.

According to the initial findings, police are currently investigating 19 suspects. Ten of them are identified as asylum applicants, the other nine are presumably illegally residing in Germany.

Amid concerns over reprisal assaults, at least four violent attacks on foreigners happened on Sunday evening in Cologne, which were described by the police as "xenophobic offenses."

A group of about 20 people attacked six Pakistanis near Cologne's central train station. Two of the victims were reportedly taken to hospital. Shortly afterwards, five assailants attacked a 39-year-old Syrian national in the same area, injuring him slightly.

Besides, a 19-year-old man from Guinea was beaten with a bottle, and another African was followed by about 25 attackers.

Right-wing groups have also used the New Year's Eve assaults in Cologne to support their cause, saying there are too many refugees coming to Germany.

On Saturday, far-right protesters took to the streets in Cologne to voice anger at the New Year's Eve violence. Police used water cannons and tear gas after protesters threw bottles, firecrackers and stones at the riot police, injuring three officers and a journalist, according to local media.

A sister group of the Pegida movement, a far-right organization that opposes immigration from the Middle East, has announced to hold a rally on Monday evening in the eastern German city of Leipzig.

Muslims living in Germany have complained about increased hostility toward them following the Cologne attacks.

Aiman Mazyek, head of the Central Council of Muslims in Germany, said Monday that Muslims in the country were experiencing "a new dimension of hatred," referring to an increased number of threatening phone calls, hate emails and letters reaching the organization as well as anti-Islamic statements in social media since the start of the year.

In an open letter to Merkel, which was published on Sunday in the city Duisburg, four refugees living in Germany expressed their shock at the incidents in Cologne and other German cities.

They also declared readiness to "help ensure that crimes like those in Cologne do not recur" within their capabilities.

The scale of the Cologne assaults has shocked Germany and prompted fierce debates in the country between those who welcome asylum seekers and those who do not, putting an increasing amount of pressure on Merkel's government and its open-door policy toward asylum seekers.

Germany has registered 1.1 million asylum seekers in 2015, announced German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere earlier this month. Critics have questioned Germany's ability to integrate the unprecedented number of newcomers.

Merkel has until now not wavered from her refugee policy but has taken a tough line against convicted refugees in face of the violence in Cologne, signaling her backing for law changes to make it easier to expel convicted asylum seekers, with officials within her ruling coalition expected to swiftly negotiate the proposals this week.

The Cologne assaults have also fuelled fears among Germans, with a poll published Sunday by German Bild newspaper saying that 39 percent of those surveyed felt police did not provide sufficient protection for the public at large, while 57 percent did.

A separate poll by broadcaster RTL found that 57 percent of Germans feared crimes would rise along with the record influx of asylum seekers, while 40 percent disagreed.

Nevertheless a majority - 60 percent - said their opinion about foreigners had not changed, while 37 percent said they had become more critical and negative about newcomers. Endit