German police have quietly conceded that the influx of Middle Eastern and African migrants into the country has led to a spike in grisly rapes at public swimming pools.
Officers in the nation – under strain from some 1 million new arrivals welcomed in by Chancellor Angela Merkel – warned of the surge in a private briefing.
But the message was leaked to German tabloid Bild, seeming to confirm fears that violent and sexual crime are tied to Europe’s migrant crisis .
An internal memo created by officers in Dusseldorf read: “The K12 can confirm a surge in sex crimes at these establishments.
“In particular rape and the sexual abuse of children in bathing establishments have given us grave cause for concern.
“The perpetrators are, for the most part, immigrants.”
Fears of the crisis getting worse will only intensify as swimming pool use in general increases for the summer.
European police have been accused of consistently covering up links between the migrant crisis and higher crime.
Officials were slow to reveal that a now-infamous mass assault on women in Cologne on New Year’s Eve was almost exclusively carried out by men of North African and Arabic descent.
Policing of the incident became a major international scandal, drawing accusations that the police were colluding to hide the true impact of Merkel’s policy from the public.
Individual reports of rapes at swimming pools – including an Iraqi man sexually abusing a 10-year-old in Austria then brazenly continuing with his swim – have emerged, and resulted in criminal proceedings.
But no public data suggested that the problem went beyond isolated incidents.
However, the leaked police report implies that there is indeed reason for broader concern.
The fact that it was not shared with the public is only likely to increase tensions in an already-fraught environment.
