GETTY Locals have set up a citizen's police force to stop migrant sex attacks in Denmark

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Desperate residents in Thisted are patrolling the streets every night in a bid to deter migrants from sexually harassing young women in bars and clubs. The city has seen an alarming rise in the number of women reporting sexual harassment by migrants since the Government opened a centre to home 365 refugees two months ago.

Worried locals are also set to put on sex awareness courses for the new arrivals, after admitting that a "cultural problem" has left many women feeling unsafe to go out at night. The alarming development comes after hundreds of women were raped and robbed by a 1,000-strong gang of migrants and refugees in the German city of Cologne on New Year's Eve.

GETTY Tensions are rising over the huge number of migrants being taken in by Denmark and Sweden

visitnordjylland.dk Residents in Thisted are becoming increasingly concerned by harassment of young women

It will fuel further debate about the wisdom of Europe's open door immigration policy, championed by Angela Merkel, with towns and cities across the continent warning that crime including sex assaults has rocketed with the influx of migrants. In Thisted there have been a series of clashes between migrants and locals in the streets after concerned residents stepped in to stop women from being molested and potentially raped. Migrants are reportedly roaming the city's nightlife hotspots after dark and harassing groups of young women, who have told authorities they are becoming too scared to go out. A concerned group of citizens, calling themselves the Night Owls, have now begun heading out in groups at night to patrol areas near bars and clubs and deter migrants from attempting to approach women.

IG The refugees are living at this camp outside Thisted, designed to hold up to 400 people

GETTY Danish officials have introduced tougher border controls to try and stem levels of immigration

The organisation, who appear to be working with the police and never arm themselves, said they have seen an alarming rise in the number of young women reporting sexual harassment since the asylum seeker centre opened two months ago. Those who have refused the advances of migrants have reportedly been subjected to torrents of abuse, although none of the cases have yet been investigated by the police. Glenn Hollender of Sønderborg club Den Flyvende Hollænde, warned: “We must say that a large number of the male guests who come from the local asylum centre have a very hard time respecting the opposite sex. In my eyes, it is harassment when one or more men continue to touch a young woman after she has said ‘stop’.” The city's Children and Family Director, Lars Sloth, admitted that there is a "cultural problem" in relation to the refugees' attitude towards local women and said local authorities would be pursuing "preventative measures" to crack down on sexual abuse.

If they see a girl, they go nuts Syrian migrant in Denmark

He told Danish broadcaster TV2: "We recognize that there is a cultural problem, and therefore we will undertake some measures to address the problem. "We want first of all, that it must be safe and secure for all our citizens to travel in Thisted - also in the city's nightlife. "Therefore, we will proceed now with additional measures that we hope will contribute to creating a greater understanding, fewer conflicts and thus greater security." One of the key measures will be apparently compulsory sexual awareness courses for new migrants arriving in the town, teaching them what behaviour towards women is unacceptable in Danish culture.

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The courses, which will be run by the council in conjunction with the police, are designed to quell growing tensions between the refugees and locals and to head off talk of vigilante groups taking the law into their own hands. And one Syrian migrant who has lived in Denmark for several years told station TV Syd that new arrivals “don’t know the rules” about how to treat women. He said: “If they see a girl, they go nuts. They simply can’t handle it. They try to grab ahold of the girl’s clothes or paw her. “In Syria and many other countries, it is not normal for a strange woman to smile at you. Those girls who are harassed aren’t necessarily scantily-dressed or drunk. Sometimes it is enough just to be a girl."