German town bans male asylum seekers from public pool after women harassed

A German town has banned male asylum seekers from a public swimming pool after women complained they were being sexually harassed. Officials in Bornheim, 20 miles south of Cologne, said men at three nearby migrant centres would be barred until they got the message “the right of women in Germany is inviolable”. They said six people had filed complaints “over the sexually offensive behaviour of some migrant men at the pool”.

There have been complaints of sexual harassment and chatting-up going on in this swimming pool … by groups of young men, and this has prompted some women to leave.

Markus Schnapka, deputy mayor of Bornheim

Public distrust of asylum seekers has grown in the country after hundreds of women told police they were groped and robbed by mostly Arab and North African men during New Year’s festivities in Cologne. Markus Schnapka, deputy mayor of Bornheim, said officials have launched a campaign to teach migrants about gender equality and respect for women. He said male asylum seekers would be banned from the town’s pool until they “got the message”. The gang attacks outside Cologne’s cathedral have deepened public doubts about Chancellor Angela Merkel’s open-door policy towards refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East.

This led to my decision that adult males from our asylum shelters may not enter the swimming pool until further notice.

Markus Schnapka

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