Several migrants sexually molested 18-year-old girls at an annual celebration for young people in Munich after the city’s mayor had reached out and invited the migrants to attend.
Socialist mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter invited 1,300 young people to attend a traditional celebration, inviting several migrants, as well. According to reports, the migrants harassed and sexually assaulted numerous teen girls, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reports.
“There is no tolerance for such behaviour at all,” Mayor Reiter stated after the allegations came out in the German press. The event, which happens on an annual basis, sees all 18-year-olds in the city invited to the city hall to celebrate and have fun. On the upper level of the building, a dancefloor complete with DJs was set up and was the location where the assaults began.
One girl, who the paper refers to as Constanze to protect her identity, claims that several young asylum seekers were aggressively dancing around her and her friends all throughout the night. Despite the girls firmly telling the migrants they weren’t interested they refused to leave them alone. The girls left to go downstairs and were followed by the migrants who grabbed them and attempted to drag them into a spare room.
Security managed to forcibly remove the five asylum seekers out of the building to the relief of Constanze, but later talking to the press she said she was reluctant to identify the men as migrants. The young woman is a supporter of the mayor inviting migrants to the event and said she didn’t want to stir up prejudice against migrants – though she stated the situation on the dance floor was “abnormally violent”.
Another 18-year-old woman wasn’t as fortunate as Constanze. The teen was attacked by an 18-year-old Syrian migrant who badly bruised her as he tried to forcefully kiss her. The girl fought back against the man and he was arrested by police for sexual assault, but later released.
German women who have been the victims of sexual abuse by migrants have been reviled as xenophobic and racist in the past for identifying their attackers as migrants or of Middle Eastern or North African heritage. One young woman, who was one of the hundreds of victims of sexual assault on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, even received threats after speaking out about her experience.
The prevalence of migrant sex attacks in Germany has not shown any signs of slowing down as swimming pools and music festivals have become hotspots for attacks.
Mayor Reiter has said that the attacks show why integration has become an important issue in Germany, though a new study this week has shown migrants have become far more insular over the last few years rather than integrating into German society.