German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she backs a sharp toughening of expulsion rules for convicted refugees and migrants. She says even those who have been given suspended sentences, they should be required to leave Germany.
"The right to residence status and an asylum procedure can be lost if someone is convicted on probation or jailed." "Serial offenders who repeatedly rob or repeatedly affront women must feel the full force of the law. I believe that must become clear not only through words, otherwise people will ask us to back them up with actions and so of course we will be discussing what needs to be changed with our coalition partners in the government," Merkel said.
The move, which will still need parliamentary approval, came after a series of assaults on women in Cologne on the New Year's eve. 18 people involved in the attacks have since been identified as asylum seekers. The incident has sparked outrage across Germany, and called into question Merkel's "open-door" migrant policy.
Under current laws, asylum seekers are only forcibly sent back if they have been sentenced to jail terms of at least three years, and if their lives are not at risk in their countries of origin.
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