Following the riots in Stuttgart and other cities, three Lord Mayors of the state of Baden-Württemberg have addressed an urgent letter to State Premier Winfried Kretschmann (Greens) and Interior Minister Thomas Strobl ( Christian Democratic Union). In this letter, they lamented the “increasing aggressiveness and disrespect of groups with teenagers and young adults in our cities”.
This has not only been a problem since the night of riots in Stuttgart, according to the letter published on Tuesday. Disputes with police or rescue services are now dominated by provocation and pure readiness to use violence. The letter was written by Boris Palmer (Greens), head of the Tübingen city hall, as well as Richard Arnold ( Christian Democrats) and Matthias Klopfer (Social Democrats), the mayors of Schwäbisch Gmünd (Ostalb district) and Schorndorf (Rems-Murr-district).According to the politicians, the night of riots in Stuttgart revealed a pattern that had already been discernible in previous years: “Among the refugees there is a small group of violent young men who exercise a strong dominance in public space and are far more likely to be involved in serious crimes, especially sexual violence and bodily harm,” the letter states. Every medium-sized town in the southwest now has a problem with young refugees who are not well integrated.As a tangible sanction, the Lord Mayors suggested, for example, that those involved be temporarily referred back to the initial reception facilities for refugees. There, police control would be much better done.