On day four after the Berlin New Year's Eve riots, the interior minister discovered that young men with a migration background posed a problem. Faeser announces a breakdown. There is criticism from the opposition that the federal government wants to cover up the facts.
According to Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, the New Year's Eve riots highlight the problem of the failed integration of migrants. "We have a big problem in German cities with certain young men with a migration background who despise our state, commit acts of violence and are hardly reached with education and integration programs," Faeser told the Funke newspapers.
Faeser's ministry announced a detailed record of what happened on New Year's Eve - and the nationality of the suspects. The interior minister called for tough action by the rule of law. "We must clearly show those who refuse to integrate violence in our cities the limits: with a firm hand and clear language - but without stirring up racist resentment." The police must "go very consistently into focal points," said Faeser. "Young violent offenders must face rapid and significant criminal penalties."
On New Year's Eve, police officers and other emergency services such as the fire brigade in Berlin and other cities were massively attacked. Police unions, but also politicians of the Union expressed the assumption that among the perpetrators a disproportionately large number of men with a migration background were represented. The AfD accused the federal government of deliberately concealing this fact.
A spokesman for the Ministry of the Interior announced that "figures and findings" from the federal states were currently being compiled in his house in order to get a nationwide overview of what was happening. He assumes that this will be possible "within the next few days". The situation report should contain information on crimes and crime scenes and "of course also differentiate according to the background and nationality of the suspects," said the ministry spokesman.
Faeser pointed out that people with a history of migration in particular also had to suffer from the consequences of the willingness to use violence. The state should not allow young violent criminals to terrorize their neighborhoods. "The whole neighborhood suffers from them, especially many people with a migration background - among them there is zero understanding for violence and riots," said the minister. "We have a duty to protect them."
The deputy spokesman for the federal government, Wolfgang Büchner, warned against narrowing the debate about what happened too much to the issue of migration. "The core of the debate that is at stake in this event on New Year's Eve is not the so-called migration background or the promotion after firecracker bans," said Büchner. "What it's about is much more important: it's about an attack on the rule of law." Büchner added: "As far as the issue of migration background is concerned, it's always the right thing to take a close look at situations like this." It is therefore good that a "very precise picture of the situation" is now being drawn up.
