‘Revenge attacks’ as migrants targeted by mobs on prowl in Cologne

A group of migrants has been attacked by a mob in Cologne, Germany, amid continuing tensions over the assaults on New Year’s Eve. Police said six people from Pakistan were set upon by a gang on Sunday, leading to two of them needing hospital treatment. In a separate incident, a Syrian man was injured after he was attacked by five people. Investigators are looking into whether the attacks were racially motivated and if there was any link to the string of assaults on New Year’s Eve, which have largely been blamed on foreigners.

The suspicion is that a specific date and an expected crowd was picked

Chancellor Angela Merkel, speaking at a meeting of the Christian Democrats

The shocking spate of sexual assaults during new year festivities in Cologne was organised, Germany’s justice minister Heiko Maas said on Sunday. “For such a horde of people to meet and commit such crimes, it has to have been planned somehow,” he said. “No one can tell me that this was not coordinated or planned.” If confirmed, the attacks would “take on a new dimension”, he added. His comments came amid reports that North Africans sent out calls on social media for people to gather in Cologne on New Year’s Eve. It brought people from as far as France and Belgium to the city. More than 500 incidents have now been reported to police.

If a refugee flouts the rules, then there must be consequences, that means that they can lose their residence right here regardless of whether they have a suspended sentence or a prison sentence.

Angela Merkel