Immigration and crime in Germany
crimes against and by immigrants in Germany
Crimes may be committed both against and by immigrants in Germany. Crimes involving foreigners (German: Ausländerkriminalität) have been a longstanding theme in public debates in Germany. In November 2015, a report that was released by the Federal Criminal Police (BKA) stated that "While the number of refugees is rising very dynamically, the development of crime does not increase to the same extent." Interior Minister Thomas de Maizière (CDU) noted that "refugees are on average delinquent as little or as often as comparison groups of the local population." A 2018 statistical study by researchers at the University of Magdeburg using 2009-2015 data argued that, where analysis is restricted to crimes involving at least one German victim and one refugee suspect and crimes by immigrants against other immigrants are excluded, there is no relationship between the scale of refugee inflow and the crime rate. In 2018 the interior ministry under Horst Seehofer (CSU) published, for the first time, an analysis of the Federal Police Statistic (German: Polizeiliche Kriminalstatistik (PKS)), which includes all those who came via the asylum system to Germany. The report found that the immigrant group, which makes up about 2% of the overall population, contains 8.5% of all suspects, after violations against Germany's alien law are excluded.
Availability and reliability of statistics
Several studies carried out since the 1990s have suggested that the collection of accurate and meaningful statistics makes it difficult to obtain an overall picture of the effect of immigration on crime in Germany. For example, second or third generation immigrants may be classified as "foreigners" whilst recent immigrants may be classified as German. Research also suggests that crimes are more likely to be reported, if the suspect is or appears to be a foreigner or immigrant. Because each of Germany's 16 states has its own police force, federal authorities do not routinely publish national statistics. These are compiled state by state and are sometimes released only after a parliamentary request.
The public source identifies “Immigration and crime in Germany” as crimes against and by immigrants in Germany. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Immigration, crime and Germany.
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