Germany has a problem.<\/p>\n
Turns out, the integration of 1 million + Muslim refugees is not so easy, when their, ahem, culture is different than yours \u2014 or, more bluntly, when their culture endorses the mistreatment of women in various ways.<\/p>\n
And rather than admit this, the German media seemed to have simply decided that if they ignored the assaults on women in Cologne and elsewhere, they could wish them away.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the New York Times, \u201cReports of Attacks on Women in Germany Heighten Tension Over Migrants<\/a>\u201d (one commenter at the Times points out that even this headline attempts some distancing: \u00a0it\u2019s not the attacks, but the \u201creports\u201d that are causing problems):<\/p>\n The tensions simmering beneath\u00a0Germany<\/a>\u2019s willingness to take in one million migrants blew into the open on Tuesday after reports that scores of young women in Cologne had been groped and robbed on New Year\u2019s Eve by gangs of men described by the authorities as having \u201ca North African or Arabic\u201d appearance.<\/p>\n Taking advantage of the New Year\u2019s Eve street party, hundreds of young men broke into groups and formed rings around young women, refusing to let them escape, the authorities said. Some groped victims while others stole wallets or cellphones.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n (Oh, and by the way, one woman reported a rape \u2013 but nevermind, apparently.)<\/p>\n In Hamburg, the police said 10 women had reported that they were sexually assaulted and robbed in a similar fashion on the same night. . . .<\/p>\n To prevent further violence in Cologne during the coming Carnival celebrations, when thousands of costumed revelers throng the streets for the beginning of Lent, which falls on Feb. 10 this year, Ms. [Mayor Henriette] Reker said that city officials would work to help women protect themselves and to explain the city\u2019s attitudes and norms to newcomers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe will explain our Carnival much better to people who come from other cultures,\u201d she said, \u201cso there won\u2019t be any confusion about what constitutes celebratory behavior in Cologne, which has nothing to do with a sexual frankness.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n And Reker is, as you likely know, in trouble herself for saying that, basically, it\u2019s the women\u2019s fault for not protecting themselves. \u00a0(See this Deutsche Welle English-language report<\/a>, for instance.) \u00a0And it seems preposterous to imagine that you can solve this problem simply through a bit more \u201cexplanation.\u201d<\/p>\n So, bad news, eh? And, even though other reports cite the police as saying that the perpetrators were (or are suspected to be) petty criminals who have long been causing them trouble in the area, it\u2019s hard to believe that this is unconnected to the massive influx of migrants\/refugees.<\/p>\n But, much as everyone\u2019s ready to jump on these reports as proof that Merkel was \u00a0a fool and should immediately close the border and expel all those who have arrived, \u00a0there is no simple answer.<\/p>\n Why, after all, did Merkel make that initial, fateful announcement that she would allow individuals to claim refugee status in Germany, rather than in the first EU country they arrived at? \u00a0Wasn\u2019t it meant to relieve the pressure on places such as Greece and Italy, who were in no position to handle the asylum-claimants?<\/p>\n The facts are confusing. \u00a0Certainly, New Year\u2019s Eve sees plenty of local residents coming into the city to celebrate, arriving at the train station either\u00a0on the local trains or the subway. \u00a0But the reports are<\/a> that the Bahnhofvorplatz \u2014 the city square between the cathedral and the train station \u2014 became the site where mainly North African and Arab men gathered to drink and shoot off firecrackers and rockets, with police clearing the crowd as midnight approached, not because of these attacks, which they weren\u2019t aware of, but because the drunkenness and fighting and rocket-firing was getting out of hand; this took an hour but ultimately they did clear the square, as well as the train station itself, which had become equally chaotic, with fighting. \u00a0 The article cites a 12-year train station employee as saying, \u201cit\u2019s always full, but this year the atmosphere was entirely different,\u201d with \u201cfar more foreigners than usual.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, this is right in the center of town. \u00a0We\u2019re not talking about a \u201cno-go zone,\u201d a ghetto-like area in which police have resigned themselves to just letting criminals take over because they get chased out by hostile\u00a0residents, as reportedly is the case in some areas of metro Paris, Brussels, Molmo. \u00a0At the same time, though, this is hardly an idyllic location. \u00a0Der Spiegel reports<\/a><\/p>\n Taschendiebst\u00e4hle sind ein massives Sicherheitsproblem in der Stadt am Rhein. \u201cIn K\u00f6ln haben wir 12.000 Delikte im Jahr\u201d, sagte Kriminalhauptkommissar G\u00fcnther Korn zu SPIEGEL TV. \u201cDas sind 5000 mehr als 2007.\u201d Und das obwohl die Beamten in dem Zeitraum dreimal mehr Trickdiebe gefasst h\u00e4tten als 2007. \u201cWir k\u00f6nnen gar nicht so viele T\u00e4ter festnehmen wie nachwachsen\u201d, so Korn. Die geringen Strafen, die in Deutschland f\u00fcr Eigentumsdelikte verh\u00e4ngt werden, schrecken offenbar nur wenige T\u00e4ter ab.<\/span><\/p>\n Pickpockets are a massive security problem in the city on the Rhine. \u00a0\u201cIn Cologne we have 12,000 offenses a year,\u201d said Chief Commissioner Gunther Korn to Spiegel TV. \u00a0\u201cThat\u2019s 5,000 more than in 2007.\u201d \u00a0And that even though officials have arrested three times more thieves than in 2007. \u00a0\u201cWe can\u2019t apprenhend as many criminals as spring up,\u201d said Korn. \u00a0The small penalties for property offenses apparently deter only a few criminals.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Or something like that \u2014 pardon the translation. \u00a0But the gist of it was that these men were not new arrivals, but a bad crowd that\u2019s been an ongoing problem. \u00a0It\u2019s \u00a0hard to believe, though, that this sudden escalation was unconnected to the massive numbers of new arrivals. \u00a0And Korn doesn\u2019t say how recently the problem escalated, either.<\/p>\n And not just Cologne but also Munich and presumably other German cities have Karneval\/Fasching celebrations coming up \u2014 giant street parties which make New Year\u2019s Eve look small in comparison. \u00a0Heck, one year when we lived in Munich, in the midafternoon I took the kids (or maybe just the younger one, but he was in a stroller) to see what the fuss was all about, and it was wall-to-wall people. \u00a0I can only imagine what the scene looked like that night. \u00a0And such an event absolutely depends on the crowd being well, civil \u2014 a repeat of even just the reports of pervasive theft, let alone the molestation of women, would destroy the event.<\/p>\n And, it should be pointed out, there were no such reports coming from Oktoberfest, despite fears that the combination of ever-flowing beer and girls in flirty dirndls could spark, er, misbehavior on the part of the newcomers.<\/p>\n\n
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