After it was revealed that in Germany on New Year's Eve there were several sexual attacks, rapes and robberies of women in several major cities, where the perpetrators were mostly of Arab or North African origin, today Switzerland and Finland announced that this happened in their countries.
Several women were allegedly robbed and sexually assaulted in Zurich during New Year's Eve, Swiss police said today, noting that the method of attack was similar to that in Germany.
Six women reported being surrounded by "several dark-skinned men" who robbed and abused them, police said, adding that this was an unusually high number for Switzerland.
Zurich police spokesman Marco Cortesi told AFP that the attacks were "somewhat similar" to those in Germany, adding that the scale of the attacks was difficult to compare.
The Finnish police also reported today an unusually high number of sexual assaults in Helsinki on New Year's Eve and pointed out that they had received a tip about the plans of asylum seekers to sexually assault women.
"There was no abuse of this kind during the last New Year's Eve or other similar occasions. This is a completely new phenomenon in Helsinki," Helsinki Deputy Police Chief Ilka Koskimaki told AFP.
Security services, which guarded the city on New Year's Eve, told police there was "widespread sexual harassment" in the central square where about 20.000 people had gathered to celebrate the New Year.
The three sexual assaults allegedly took place at Helsinki's main train station on New Year's Eve, where around 1.000 asylum seekers, mostly from Iraq, had gathered.
"The police received information about those three cases of sexual assault, two of which were filed as complaints," the Helsinki police said in a statement.
Koskimaki added that the suspects are asylum seekers.
"Three were caught and taken into custody," he said.
About 90 women reported that they were robbed, threatened and sexually harassed by young men, mostly under the influence of alcohol, on the night between December 31 and January 1 near Cologne's main train station.
Cologne's police chief said the perpetrators were of "Arab or North African origin", prompting right-wing organizations to criticize the government in Berlin for welcoming refugees with open arms.
Police say the incident occurred on New Year's Eve when about 1.000 men split into groups as police evacuated a square near the train station to prevent fireworks from being thrown from a height into the crowd.
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