The mass sex attack in Cologne on New Year’s Eve was quickly blamed on Syrian refugees by anti-migrant media outlets and public figures, however they appear to have been proved wrong. It has been reported that only three of the 58 people arrested in connection with the attack are actually refugees.
There were over one thousand reports of theft, sexual assault and rape at the central train station in Cologne, Germany, on New Year’s Eve. The incident led to German chancellor Angela Merkel rethinking the country’s relatively welcoming policy towards migrants.
However, the news may not matter to those with strong anti-Islam viewpoints, as the majority of the suspect are from Moroccan, Tunisian and Algerian origin. Three were German citizens, and a further three were refugees—two Syrians and an Iraqi—who had recently arrived in the country, according to Cologne public prosecutor Ulrich Bremer.
Bremer told German newspaper Die Welt that of the 1,054 complaints, 600 were regarding theft as opposed to sexual offences.
Anti-refugee feelings swelled in the wake of the mass attack, with arsons and assaults on Muslims increasing across Germany.
