Germany hands migrants "please don't rape the locals" leaflets
28.01.2016 17:00
Cologne and Bonn carnival organisers have begun handing out rules for refugees for next week's jollity - with warnings about women, alcohol and urinating in public.
The cities are on edge after mass sexual assaults by immigrants against hundreds of women on New Year's Eve in Cologne.
The number of complaints resulting from the frenzy in and around the main station now stands at over 820.
Carnival is, if anything, even bigger than New Year in the Rhineland where cities like Bonn, Cologne and Dusseldorf go crazy in a week long celebration of parades, parties, dances and fetes.
A million people are expected on the streets of Dusseldorf alone next Monday when the party gets underway.
A massive police presence, both uniformed and undercover, will be deployed to try to ensure there is no repeat of the scenes which marred the last day of the year in Cologne and in several other German cities.
In Bonn, carnival organisers have now printed leaflets welcoming migrants - provided they behave themselves.
Printed in several languages including Arabic, the flyers read: 'People dress up to celebrate, sing and dance together. In the carnival time everyone must deal respectfully with one another and observe the laws.
'Bützen - that means kisses on the cheeks. Sexual approaches are not allowed! Women and men must always be in agreement. No means no!
'Dancing to the music is also a way to celebrate carnival. Many people also celebrate with drinks and alcohol. Please - only in moderation!
'Urinating in public is forbidden!'
Bonn carnival chief Christoph Arnold went with representatives of the police and the local integration commissioner Colette Manemann to a refugee centre to hand out the leaflets in person.
In Cologne one of the points raised on the leaflet - which is printed in Arabic too - is also about alcohol, which Muslims are not supposed to consume.
It reads: 'Many in Cologne will be drinking beer or other alcoholic beverages at carnival time, but of course there is no obligation to do so.
'Having fun, singing and dancing can all be done as well without alcohol.'
One Syrian called Noble, 19, who has been in Germany for four months, confessed to being bemused about the celebrations, saying: 'It's something people don't do where I'm from. People drink alcohol, dress up - this is all very strange.'
www.ann.az
Photo 
Video 
