Police in the German city of Cologne say they screened hundreds of men "seemingly of African descent" on New Year's Eve as part of a precautionary measure in reaction to last year's allegations of robberies and s3xual assaults.
Cologne's police said in a tweet on Saturday that the men were stopped at two main train stations in the city so that officers could question them and check their identities.
#PolizeiNRW #Silvester2016 #SicherInKöln: Hundreds of Nafris screened at main railway station. Details follow. https://t.co/VYMQuT6B7u pic.twitter.com/LWrtAXAouq
— Polizei NRW K (@polizei_nrw_k) December 31, 2016
Authorities fielded over 1,500 officers across Cologne for New Year's Eve celebrations in response to criticism that they failed to stop hundreds of robberies and s3xual assaultsblamed largely on men of North African origina year ago.
Al Jazeera has reached out to Cologne's police department for comment but has yet to receive a response.
By early Sunday police had received reports of two women being s3xually assaulted in Cologne. One suspect was arrested.
In January 2016, police in Cologne said they had received upwards of 516 criminal complaints from individuals or groups in relation to assaults on New Year's Eve. There were at least 133 charges in the northern city of Hamburg.
The incidents set off a vicious debate over immigration in Germany.
Aljazeera