This week a police investigation revealed that a German girl named Maria Ladenburger, 19, who was raped and murdered in Freiburg, Germany, died in the hands of an Afghan teenage refugee, who came illegally in Germany in 2015 and was previously booked over violence but later released. This caused a major backlash towards German chancellor Angela Merkel. Protesters said that Merkel’s open door policy is responsible for her death. Similar backlashed throughout the country has led to the rise of anti-immigrant party Alternate for Germany (AfD) and Ms. Merkel is facing the toughest reelection next year.

This has prompted Ms. Merkel to change her stance toward her refugee policy and see was seen taking a tougher stance during her speech at CDU party conference. She said that the situation of 2015 cannot, should not, and must not be repeated. Speaking at the conference, for the first time ever she called for a burka ban in Germany. Previously, she said that a ban would not be legally appropriate; instead, Muslim women should be encouraged to voluntarily keep their face unveiled. However, given the constitutional religious freedom, such a ban would be difficult to pursue.