But she is determined to maintain the open borders of Europe’s Schengen zone, not only because it benefits Germany’s economy but also because it represents a key aspect of the European Union’s ethos and objective.
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Two top ministers explained that the planned reform of laws on deportation and sexual offenses would lower the hurdles to remove foreigners who commit serious crimes.
Two weeks after multiple attacks on women on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, the number of criminal complaints for theft, physical and sexual assault has risen to 653.
Leipzig is a city known for peaceful protest, but officials fear anger and resentment against asylum seekers prompted by incidents on New Year’s Eve in the city of Cologne will spread to other German cities. The government, meanwhile, has responded to the sexual assaults with new rules to make the deportation of foreign criminals easier.
The assaults on New Year’s Eve, which are the subject of an ongoing investigation, have emboldened right-wing groups and unsettled members of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative party, raising pressure on her to crack down forcefully on migrants who commit crimes.
Only asylum seekers who have been sentenced to at least three years’ imprisonment and will not be at risk in their countries of origin can now be forcibly deported under German law. “And whoever doesn’t use that chance, for them the message is then ‘You can’t stay here!'”, Tauber said.
“We are vulnerable because we don’t have the orderliness and management of the refugees under control yet”, Ms Merkel said on Monday.
On November 20 a slim majority of 53% said the number of asylum seekers in Germany was already too high, however 42% said the current numbers were acceptable (22%) or that Germany could even accept more (21%).
Holger Muench, head of the Federal Criminal Police Office, said “the same conditions were in place at different locations”, with crowds of people gathering to celebrate the New Year.
A total of 19 suspects have been identified; all of them foreigners, many of them recent arrivals.
“In the future we will deny the refugees who commit crimes legal refugee status more consistently”, the statement added.
However, “what we see here is perpetrators communicating with each other and making arrangements… of course, we must recognise better where they do this, how they do this”. Stockholm police spokesman Varg Gyllander refused to give the nationality of the suspects, but did say “this involves young men who are not from Sweden”.
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Some demonstrations have turned violent, with protesters smashing windows of buildings, setting cars on fire, and throwing rocks at police officers.
