The rules at a public swimming pool in Munich. The city of Bornheim, near Bonn, banned male asylum seekers from its public pool after complaints from female swimmers about sexual harassment by migrants. | SVEN HOPPE/AFP/Getty German pool bans refugees after women complain Social workers say migrants must respect the rights of women if they want to swim.

A suburb of the German city of Bonn banned male refugees over 18 from using the municipal swimming pool after complaints of sexual harassment, the latest in a wave of incidents creating a public backlash against Angela Merkel's open-doors policy.

Social workers in Bornheim, which is about 30 kilometers south of Cologne where hundreds of women were sexually molested on New Year's Eve by gangs of men including asylum-seekers, took action after women complained about men from a refugee shelter.

“There have been complaints of sexual harassment and chatting-up going on in this swimming pool and this has prompted some women to leave [the premises],” said Markus Schnapka, head of Bornheim's social welfare office.

The aim is to send a message to the refugees that German cultural norms, including respect for women's rights, have to be accepted, he said, adding: "Once our social workers tell us that they have got the message, we'll terminate the measure."

Another German town, Rheinberg, has canceled its February 8 carnival parade because of concerns that migrant men could provoke incidents during the festivities, according to local public security chief Jonny Strey.

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