The widespread sexual assaults in Germany’s migrant camps provide a vivid illustration of the growing crisis associated with waves of “asylum seekers” from several Middle Eastern countries.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is receiving blame both inside and outside her country for having precipitated the problem when she announced several weeks ago that there was “no limit” to the number of migrants Germany would accept. It is estimated that as many as one million, mostly male, Islamic migrants will move into Germany by the end of the year.
The massive numbers, in such a short period of time, have created horrifically unsafe and unsanitary conditions. Not able to adequately accommodate these large numbers, German cities have constructed temporary shelters where men, women, and children are sleeping next to each other, and sharing showers and toilets, with little to no privacy. Women sleep in their clothes and are afraid to go to the toilet or take a shower for fear of being sexually assaulted.
For example, nearly 5,000 migrants seeking asylum are crowded into what was once a U.S. military installation in Giessen, in western Germany, from where reports of numerous rapes, sexual assaults, and forced prostitution emanate. Four women’s organizations sent a letter to the minister of integration and social affairs in the German state of Hesse, charging that many of the men in the camps regard women as “inferior,” and consider unaccompanied women as “fair game.” The letter added, “These are not isolated incidents.”
And it is not just adult women.
Johannes-Wilhelm Roerig, Germany’s federal commissioner for child sexual abuse issues, expressed concern that refugee children are also victims of sexual assault. At the migrant camp in Detmold, in central Germany, a 13-year-old Muslim girl was raped by a fellow migrant. A local newspaper’s investigation uncovered that the police had tried to keep news of the incident from leaking out, fearing it would give “legitimacy” to critics of mass migration. Detmold Police Chief Bernd Flake did not apologize for the incident, but rather insisted that the policy of not reporting crimes in the migrant facilities would continue.
Though resentment against German Chancellor Merkel and her policies is growing in Europe, she is now trying to force other EU members to take in migrants under a quota system.
Hungary, in an effort to stop the flood of migrants into its country, has erected barbed wire fences along its border with Slovenia. Over one-quarter million migrants have crossed illegally into Greece and Italy already this year, though less than a hundred thousand have been registered according to EU rules.
European Commission Vice President Frans Timmermans warned,
If we’re not able to tackle this issue, if we’re not able to find sustainable solutions, you will see a surge of extreme right across the European continent.
British Prime Minister David Cameron has openly called for expelling many of the migrants. European Council President Donald Tusk stated that he fears “millions” more migrants will be surging into Europe, and that “the policy of open doors” must be terminated.
While the migrant crisis began as a result of many refugees fleeing war-torn Syria, the open-door announcement by Merkel touched off a crisis, as thousands are now coming from other Middle Eastern countries, as well. Few have any legal documents, and many are simply thowing away their passports so they can claim they are from Syria.
Germans are finding their own safety is in jeopardy. In Giessen, many of the new arrivals are roaming the streets in large groups. Residents are being advised that they should adjust their lifestyles in light of the migrants. A 16-year-old girl was raped in Bavaria this past month, leading police to issue a warning to parents not to allow their children outside without parental protection.
In the Bavarian town of Pocking, a grammar school’s headmaster sent a note to parents advising that their daughters should not wear short skirts or revealing tops or blouses, to avoid any “misunderstandings” by the 200 migrants housed in the school’s gymnasium. The letter explained that the migrants were mostly Muslim and “they have their own culture.”
Despite these horror stories from Europe, President Barack Obama has pledged that the United States would take in a large number of these migrants over the next several months.
There is no doubt that many of the migrants are simply those seeking a better life for themselves and their families. But it is also obvious that mixed in with the thousands of those genuinely seeking asylum are hardened terrorists — who can be expected to commit terrorist acts wherever they settle.
This present crisis can be traced, at least in part, to government policies adopted by European nations, and by the United States. The decision of President Jimmy Carter to undermine the Shah of Iran contributed greatly to the rise of the Iranian government of today. President George W. Bush’s overthrow of Saddam Hussein in Iraq removed a check on the ambitions of that regime. And President Barack Obama’s role in the removal of Moammar Qadhafi in Libya, and his support for the so-called Arab Spring, have certainly continued in that part of the world the disastrous effects of the U.S. policy of interventionism. As far back as 1990, conservative commentator Pat Buchanan warned that an American military campaign to drive Iraq out of Kuwait would lead to a permanent American presence in the Middle East — with growing Arab resentment toward that presence.
And the decision to open the doors of the United States to thousands of these Middle Eastern migrants will almost certainly lead to tragedies in America similar to those now unfolding in Europe.
