German Chancellor Angela Merkel Faces ANOTHER MUTINY on ‘Open Door’ Refugee Policy

GERMAN Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing another mutiny in her own party after MPs urged Germany to close its borders to asylum seekers.

More than 40 politicians in Merkel’s Christian Democrat Party signed a petition to close its doors to refugees following the sex attacks in Cologne



The chancellor has come under intense pressure to change her “open-door” policy after it was revealed asylum seekers were among suspects in the vicious New Year’s Eve attacks.

More than 650 women have now come forward to file criminal complaints over the attacks, around 45 per cent of them for sexual assault.

Germany right-wing protesters gathered after Cologne sex attacks

Hundreds of migrants are being turned away every day at Germany’s border with Austria under the Dublin rules because they want to travel through the country to get to Denmark or Sweden.

Peter Tauber, the party’s general secretary, on Wednesday called for Germany’s states to deport 1,000 rejected asylum seekers a day.

He added: “If one in two asylum claims is rejected on average, then the states have a duty to deport 1,000 rejected asylum seekers a day.”

Merkel believed she had defeated the rebellion last month.

But the Cologne attacks has sparked fury once more from the rebels who claim Merkel looks “more isolated than ever".

Christian von Stetten, one of the MPs “If so many of our party speak out in favour of partial refusal at the border, we should all be able to vote on it,”

The petition calls for the border to be closed to asylum seekers “who wish to enter Germany illegally via a safe third country”.

This would include almost all asylum seekers, as under the EU’s controversial Dublin rules refugees must claim asylum in the first member state they reach.

Last year, Germany was only able to deport around 30 per cent of rejected asylum seekers while only 18,363 had been deported by the end of November.

Under German law, asylum seekers cannot be deported to countries where their lives may be in danger, such as Syria.

Mr Tauber added the mood in the party is “tense”.

He said: “There are many questions, and a clear expectation that we move forward. We’re working on it.”

But he defended Mrs Merkel’s refugee policy.

He added: “It is still right that we should deal with this great challenge, but of course it can’t go on forever. That’s why we’re working to reduce the number of refugees noticeably.”

“Hundreds of thousands accept the help gratefully, learn German and want to integrate. For those who don’t take that opportunity, the message is: ‘You can’t stay here’.”

express