We will throw out more migrants in wake of sex attacks, warns minister

More foreign criminals would be expelled once new restrictions are rolled out in the wake of sexual attacks on women blamed on migrants in Cologne, German justice minister Heiko Maas said on Wednesday. The warning came after plans were unveiled to speed up the deportation of foreigners who commit physical and sexual assaults, resist police or damage property - crimes which mostly carry probationary sentences but do not trigger expulsion under current law. "There will certainly be more deportation orders as a result of changes to the law because we are lowering the requirements for a deportation,“ Mr Maas said in a TV interview. More than 600 women have now complained of being attacked on New Year’s Eve in Cologne and other German cities.

We will tighten criminal law to make deportation easier

Justice minister Heiko Maas

His remarks also followed violent scenes on Monday night when more than 200 masked right-wing supporters, carrying placards with racist overtones, went on a rampage in the eastern city of Leipzig. The trouble-makers threw fireworks, broke windows and vandalised buildings, police said. As roughly 2,000 anti-Muslim LEGIDA protesters marched peacefully in the city centre, police said a separate group of 211 people walked through the the southern Connewitz district before turning to violence. Witnesses said they were targeting ethnic restaurants and businesses. The top floor of one building caught fire.

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