All of my readers have doubtless heard the news about the mass sexual assaults on women in Cologne (and it is sounding like also Hamburg), Germany on New Years Eve---and that the attacks appear to have been carried out primarily by immigrants and asylum seekers from Northern Africa and the Middle East. Which, of course, is fanning the flames of the debate about whether or not Germany should be accepting refugees into a virtual bonfire.
So, here I am throwing a few of my own, very scattered, thoughts into the mix (and I promise some lighter posts about Disneyland Paris coming up soon).
So, let me start by saying the attacks on NYE are inexcusable. Under no circumstances should women anywhere--and certainly not in Germany or other Western countries where they have long standing legal rights and equality, have to fear being groped, raped or in any other way having their bodies violated when out anywhere---and having it happen in such a public place at a time when most reasonable Germans would have assumed it was safe to be out and partying with fellow celebrants is appalling (well, worse, but I am lacking for words to describe it).
I don't believe for a moment that such attacks can be blamed on cultural misunderstanding.
The very fact that these attacks were coordinated and designed to happen at a very busy/chaotic time and in mass, and with distraction such as fireworks being fired into crowds; makes it clear that the perpetrators knew this behaviour was unacceptable and would have to be done in such a way as to avoid being easily detected at the time.
I find it appalling and utterly repulsive that someone who comes to a country seeking ASYLUM---which is to say, they came to Germany to escape the danger to themselves posed in their home countries and ask to be taken in so that they might live in safety here--that such people who KNOW first hand and in the most horrible way what it is to live with fear and uncertainty and in danger would come here and then make life UNSAFE for others. The amount of anger I have towards such people really cannot be put into words.
I am angry about what happened to those specific women--something which should never happen to anyone.
I am angry that now I feel just a little bit less safe and a little more wary in the "safe" country I live in--and I am angry that many German women, or women living in Germany, likely feel the same.
I am angry that the one million asylum seekers to arrive in Germany in 2015, now face a harder battle to be accepted and treated well in Germany because the actions of a few (100? 200?) are reflecting back on them, and the debate on how to handle their plight is now largely shaped by this attack.
I am angry that many perfectly wonderful, nice, non violent people with middle eastern ancestry, or Islamic sounding names, etc are now in danger of being harmed by idiots trying to retaliate for this. Some already have been harmed in attacks today.
I am angry that, as an immigrant myself, I and my family are probably looked at differently in light of these attacks.
I am angry that terrorist organizations and groups GAIN from the divisiveness this creates--that it feeds into the story they are trying to sell of "Islam against the world" or more on point "the world against Islam" and makes their job easier.
And I am worried. I am worried about how long it took the police to break things up and clear the area. On a night in which any reasonable person must have thought something was likely to happen somewhere in Europe in the current climate, it took HOURS to clear the space and get people to safety. I cannot fathom the level of tragedy we could have had if guns or bombs had been involved and the response so inadequate.
I am worried about people who may be left to starve, or die in bombings, etc because this is THE news story of the hour and is tilting world opinion against refugees--even though it was a small number of the overall flood f refugees who were involved.
I worry when something so well planned and coordinated goes entirely undetected before the fact by police on high alert looking for threats.
And I don't really have a lot of answers.
I DO think it is reasonable to make it exceedingly clear when refugees arrive that violence of any kind (other than true self defense) is simply not acceptable here. Period.
That violence against women, other ethnic groups, children, queer people, other religions or any other group that the person may be used to thinking of as "less than" is NEVER okay here and making life unsafe for anyone will cause you to be deported (yes, I am OK with that--so long as there is a good amount of evidence and a fair look at what occurred first).
Along with that, since some may possibly not see sexual assault or rape as violence, being clear about what consent is, how it is obtained and what is NOT consent should be a priority.
Along with that, making sure people know how to report violence against themselves, or violence they witness is important. I thin this is all reasonable and can be done in a way which is not profiling and not offensive--and takes away any tenuous argument about "lack of cultural understanding" or not realizing the severity of possible consequences.
I also feel that the sooner refugees, or other migrants can be incorporated into local society, hopefully living more among locals than in large camps or groups of "outsiders," working with locals, goign to school with locals, etc the more likely they are to become a part of the community and absorb the values and traditions that go along with it and integrate in a way that is positive for all involved.
Beyond that, well I am not sure what more can be done, other than the obvious doing our best to find those who did this, and prosecuting them and/or deporting them and making it clear we do not tolerate such acts. (By the way, I think it is equally important to find and prosecute the vigilante types who are attacking random middle easterners now in some sort of twisted sense of vigilante justice ).
There are always some bad people in any group--this should not come as news or a surprise. But the predators from NYE no more represent the majority of refugees, so far as I can tell, than the Bundy family represents the majority of US ranchers. And terrorist groups are fast to find ways to exploit any situation; whether that is using Trump's words to recruit new members, using social media to recruit and coordinate, sending people in disguised as refugees to stir up trouble, etc.
I am relieved I am not the person in charge f trying to find them and balance the needs of so many people in the process.
--Hadley
