Youth violence prompts German boot camps

BERLIN, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A rise in the number of violent assaults by foreigners and youths in Germany has prompted officials to consider Western-style boot camps for offenders.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel supports the idea and many right-wing officials consider foreigners and immigrants the target inmate population. Jail boot camps for criminals had been considered taboo in Germany because its past experience with Nazi-era concentration camps, the Telegraph reported Saturday.

One recent attack involved a 20-year-old Turkish man who beat a 76-year-old Munich resident, fracturing his skull. The incident began when the elderly man asked a 17-year-old Greek immigrant to stop smoking.

Roland Koch with Merkel's Christian Democrats Party asked "how much are we prepared to take from a small proportion of violent youths, who frequently have a foreign background?"

Koch's statements come amid calls for expulsion of "foreign" criminals from Germany.