Germans are worried about the number of asylum seekers
who have been allowed into the country following incidents of sexual
assaults and muggings in Cologne New Year's Eve and at the city's
ongoing annual festival which were mostly blamed on migrants who "looked
like they were from north Africa" .
22-year-old
Nigerian Fidelis is among more than a million migrants who arrived in
Germany in 2015. According to BBC, he fled fighting in Libya and
travelled to Italy before making his way to Germany nine months ago.
Fidelis told the BBC Newsbeat that he was
stopped "on every corner" on the opening night of Cologne's annual
carnival.
"I am very worried. Police have been
checking my papers. They've asked me Where are you from? Are you from
Africa? Can I see you papers? I'm very embarrassed"
There
were protests all over Cologne in January and German Chancellor
Angela Merkel made it easier to make asylum seekers who commit crimes
leave the country. Thirty-five suspects are being investigated over the
attacks with two men - a Tunisian and a Moroccan - charged.
Fideleis
who worked at a bar in Libya, says he loves living in Germany but when he heard what happened on
New Year's Eve - he knew people would treat him differently.
"I
was praying to my god. I watched it on the TV station. It was like
something I couldn't expect was happening by some people who I don't
know. I don't know who these people are."
He thinks people should be more open minded.
"Africans are all different. You see white [people] in Africa you see black [people]. People need to see this"
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