The days when Germans stood in their thousands on railway platforms to welcome refugees entering their country are long gone. What happened in Cologne and other cities in Germany on New Year’s Eve put an end to that. Scores of young women were sexually assaulted and robbed by gangs of men of Arab or north African appearance. The police were not able to protect them. Some of the men checked by officers that night held refugee documents. Stolen mobile phones have been traced to refugee shelters.

It is Angela Merkel’s worst nightmare. Having pinned her political future on “showing a friendly face” to those fleeing war and persecution, the chancellor now acknowledges that there might be “questions that go beyond Cologne, such as: are there groups that harbour a contempt for women?”

It seems there are. There have been reports of similar incidents in Hamburg, Stuttgart and other cities. Last week, a group of Syrian refugees living in the southwestern city of Weil am Rhein were arrested for the alleged rape of two young girls.