Tensions continue to escalate in Germany as reports of mob sex assaults on New Year’s Eve give way to attacks on foreigners and demands for refugees to leave.
Protesters flooded the streets of the east German city of Leipzig on Monday night, blaming the sex assaults on migrants who have entered the country.
Some chanted “Deport them!” while others waved signs demanding refugees be sent home.
“Rapefugees not welcome,” read a banner, which showed a silhouette of a woman running away from a mob.
Another sign read, “Islamists not welcome.”
The rally was organized by a local chapter of the anti-Muslim organization PEGIDA.
Leipzig official Maria Braunsdorf said police surrounded at least 250 right-wing extremists after some local businesses were ransacked. Many of their wore face masks to shield their identity, which is against the law in Germany, she said.
Nearby, counter-demonstrators came out in force to show their support for the refugees. One banner read, “Willkommen in Leipzig” — Welcome to Leipzig.
The anxiety over migrants in Germany heightened after large numbers of women reported being sexually assaulted or robbed by gangs of men of Arab or North African appearance during New Year’s celebrations in the city center, with some victims saying they feared for their lives.
Police in the city of Cologne said Monday that there had been 553 criminal complaints stemming from that night — about 40% of which relate to sexual assaults.
They said at least 31 people, most from North African or Middle Eastern countries, have been charged so far in the attacks. Of those, 18 have been identified as asylum seekers.
Other European cities also had a slew of sex crime reports from New Year’s Eve.
Report: Germany turning back greater numbers in new year
The protests occurred as police in neighboring Austria revealed that Germany has been sending an increasing number of migrants back to Austria in the wake of the attacks — most of them from North African countries.
David Furtner, spokesman for the Upper Austria Federal Police, said that since December, Austria and Germany had had a “memorandum of understanding” that they would only turn back a maximum of 60 migrants per day.
But since the start of the year, the number of migrants turned back had increased to up to 200 a day.
He said only a small number of Syrians were among those turned back, with the majority hailing from Algeria or Morocco, and some from Afghanistan.
Furtner said he did not have details on where the migrants went next, saying some may try to re-enter Germany, while others likely sought asylum in Austria.
Foreigners attacked
After police identified some of the suspects as migrants, several foreigners in Cologne came under attack.
A gang of 20 men attacked at least six Pakistani nationals Sunday, Cologne police said. Two of the victims had to be hospitalized.
Afterward, five men attacked and injured a man of Syrian descent, police said.
Authorities detained two people after the the assaults on the men.
A national debate
The reported assaults have sparked fierce public debate about German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s liberal policies toward migrants and have unleashed a wave of anger over authorities’ response to the attacks.
Merkel has condemned the attacks in Germany as “disgusting, criminal acts.” But she did not back down on her commitment to welcome refugees who obey German laws and pledge to integrate into German society.
In an interview published Sunday in Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Justice Minister Heiko Maas expressed his view that the attacks were not opportunistic, but a premeditated and organized assault on women.
“No one can tell me that it wasn’t coordinated and prepared,” he told the newspaper.
Cologne police Chief Wolfgang Albers was fired Friday amid criticism of his department’s handling of the violence.
And Cologne Mayor Henriette Reker has been slammed for advising women to keep “more than an arm’s length” away from unknown men in response to the assaults.
Reker later said her comments had been taken out of context.