Merkel calls for tougher migrant laws after Cologne attacks

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Angela Merkel is calling for tougher laws on regulating migrants after a string of New Year's Eve sex attacks and robberies in Cologne.

The attacks were largely blamed on foreigners and police confirmed of the 31 men questioned so far, 18 were asylum seekers.

Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party wants to:

  • Toughen laws to exclude foreigners from being granted asylum if they have a criminal record, however small

  • Strengthen police powers to conduct checks of identity papers

The station in Cologne where the women were reportedly attacked. Credit: Reuters

As many as 1,000 men of "Arab or North African descent" allegedly groped women near the city's main train station.

More than 100 womenreported they had been threatened, robbed or molested in the area.

While at least one woman claimed she was gang raped.

A man holds up a banner saying: 'No violence against women'. Credit: APTN

The proposals would still need parliamentary approval before they come into force.

Merkel said: "The right to asylum 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."

Protesters in Cologne earlier this week. Credit: Reuters

The investigation into the New Year's Eve attacks is still continuing.

Cologne's police chief was dismissed on Friday after mounting criticism of his force's handling of the incidents and being slow to release information.

Earlier this week protesters called on Merkel to act over the attacks which she had described as "disgusting".

Germany took in just over a million migrants last year, far more than any other European country.