40 arrested in raids linked to migrant crime

The German police said they have arrested 40 men in raids in Duesseldorf linked to a long-running investigation of suspected organised theft involving people of North African origin.

The police said Saturday evening’s raids on 18 cafes, gambling houses and bars near the ma-in railway station were planned in 2015 and were not triggered by the New Year’s Eve ass-aults and thefts in nearby Cologne.

However, those events, blamed on people in a crowd described as primarily of “Arab or North African origin,” ha-ve drawn attention to crimes committed by North Africans in Germany.

A police statement on Sunday said officers checked 294 people, largely men of North Afri-can origin, and arrested 40 — 38 of them on suspicion of illegal residency. They also found six cell phones linked to crimes.

With the increase in crimes committed by migrants, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s troubles have reignited. Ho-wever, the German lea-der is sticking to her guns, insisting her cou-ntry will manage the challenge and that diplomacy can bring solutions.

A surge of robberies and sexual assaults on New Year’s Eve in Cologne, and the fact that some of the suspects were asylum-seekers, have highlighted the difficulty of integrating so many newcomers. With pressure mounting for the government to manage the influx, Ms Merkel’s Bavarian allies are once again pushing for a cap on asylum-seekers.

Public opinion toward refugees has been souring for months in Germany, although polls suggest political support for Ms Merkel’s conservatives is down only slightly. While Germany does not hold a national election until late 2017, smaller votes in 2016 will offer a test of the mood.

“The events of New Year’s Eve have again shone a spotlight on the challenges we face, made them clear from a new side we had not viewed so far,” Ms Me-rkel acknowledged. Wit-hin days, her government proposed legislation to make it easier to deport criminal foreig-ners. On the refugee inf-lux itself, however, she is standing firm.