german police
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German quality newspaper "Die Welt" published an article about a "no go-zone" in the centre of Cologne. Is it really that bad? When Cologne's mayor says "police have given up on the area", the answer is probably yes.

We're talking about the "Ebertplatz" here, an inner city square at the heart of Cologne that connects several streets. According to German newspaper "Express" the place is a popular location for African migrants who live nearby to deal drugs. The police call it a hotbed of crime as several police interventions didn't change a thing. Some of Cologne's inhabitants even call it an "angstraum", a fearful place.

A week ago a young African man was stabbed to death at the place by fellow Africans. Earlier a TV-production had to be cancelled because the crew was threatened by drug dealers. One of Sony's producers said that "young girls were especially scared and serious threats were disrupting the scenes".

People who live nearby want politicians to take action as the situation is spiralling out of control. But politicians don't seem to have a real solution. The mayor of the left-wing Green party says that "this has to stop as the place is a criminal hotspot". But he adds that "the problems are impossible to be solved by police alone". After Cologne's large-scale sex attacks during New Year's Eve 2015 the mayor thinks the police are focusing on the central station and "have already given up on the Ebertplatz".

After the influx of more than a million migrants Germany's big cities have serious problems with controlling migrant crime. Earlier we wrote an alarming report about the situation in Germany's crime-ridden capital Berlin.