German swimming pool bans migrant men

Migrant men have been banned from a public swimming pool in the German town of Bornheim after women complained of harassment, an official said on Friday.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

16 January, 2016

Posters on pool rules are displayed in public swimming pools across Germany [Getty]

Adult male asylum seekers have been banned from a public indoor swimming pool in the German town of Bornheim following complaints that some women were being "sexually harassed".

Although none of the complaints involved a crime actually being committed, men from a nearby asylum seeker shelter will not be allowed into the pool until they "improved" their behaviour.

The decision was "difficult" but aims to send a clear message that breaching German cultural norms was a "red line" said Bornheim's head of Social Affairs Department on Friday.

"There have been complaints of sexual harassment and chatting-up going on in this swimming pool…by groups of young men, and this has prompted women to leave [the premises]," Markus Schnapka said.

"This led to my decision that adult males from our asylum shelters may not enter the swimming pool until further notice," Schnapka added.

New ID cards set to be introduced in February in Germany may help Bornehim officials enforce the ruling.

The move comes as tensions rise across the country following accounts of sexual assaults in the city of Cologne during New Year Eve celebrations.

The attackers in Cologne were characterised as being of "almost exclusively" from a migration background and have lead to an increase in hostility towards Germany's large refugee population.

Far-right groups have capitalised on the assaults to promote their anti-immigrant agenda.

Protests against German leader Angela Merkel, who pushed her government to accept more refugees fleeing war in Syria and Iraq, have risen across the country.

Protestors have carried banners and signs bearing offensive slogans, such as "Rapefugees not welcome".

A recent poll by ZDF published on Friday found an increase from 46 to 66 percent of Germans who feel Germany is unable to cope with the current influx of refugees.

Meanwhile, refugees in Cologne and other German cities are reported to be living in an increasing climate of fear following the anti-immigrant turn.

Last week saw a number of reported anti-immigrant assaults including a lynch mob in Cologne where 20 unknown assailants attacked six Pakistanis.

A number of attacks against other immigrants followed in the aftermath.