In the times of Corona, not everything was bad. In any case, crime has gone down significantly. In 2022, when there were no lockdowns and fewer restrictions on freedom of movement, criminals became more alert. With around 5.6 million offences, the figures for 2019 were exceeded. Part of the increase is due to violations of immigration law. These were mainly illegal entries.
Politicians and experts reacted with shock to the sharp rise in crimes committed by children and young people. The rates of increase for those under 14 are in the two-digit range. On the other hand, one aspect of the statistics compiled and now presented by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) was hardly registered in political Berlin: the high proportion of non-German perpetrators or suspects.
High proportion of foreigners who have committed criminal offenses in Germany
Excluding violations of the law on foreign nationals, the BKA registered 5.4 million criminal offenses committed by 1.9 million people last year. According to official statistics, these include 612,000 non-German perpetrators, or 32 percent. Of the 83 million people living in Germany, 13.4 million are foreigners, i.e. 16 percent.
The proportion of foreigners who have committed crimes is therefore at least twice as high as their proportion in the total population. This shows that people who have migrated to Germany or who were born here as children of foreign parents are more likely to commit crimes than the local population.
Statistics obscure clan issues
The ratio of 16 percent foreigners to 32 percent foreign offenders does not paint the whole picture. In official statistics, a German is someone who has a German passport. However, around 9 million people with a migration background fall into this category.
Many members of criminal clans have German passports and thus increase the proportion of formally German perpetrators, although they live – not integrated – in their parallel world and see the German passport primarily as a “certificate of entitlement” for state services.
If criminals from this population group were included in the “non-German” suspects and criminals, the picture would be even more alarming for our immigration society. Greens and Social Democrats, who see uncontrolled immigration as an enrichment for our society, probably have no interest in honest statistics. It would be honest if German criminals with a migration background were at least identified separately.
Most citizens with a migration background do not commit crimes
Of course, this is not easy, as there are no official statistics on how many German passport holders have a migration background. According to the Federal Statistical Office, 22.6 million people with a migration background and 13.4 million foreigners live in Germany. This means that 9.2 million people with a migration background are German citizens.
To avoid misunderstandings: the majority of these citizens with a migration background do not commit any crimes, nor do most of the foreigners living here. Nevertheless, a distinction between delinquent so-called organic Germans and criminals with a migration background would give a more accurate picture. The lack of accurate data could be compensated for to some extent by estimates.
Integration flaws?
This is by no means about “bashing” foreigners or stirring up prejudices. If certain population groups commit more crimes than the average, this is always an indication of special difficulties for this group of people. Higher crime rates among immigrants – with and without a German passport – point to serious shortcomings in integration. If you want to do something here, you need accurate figures.
The BKA statistics only provide these facts and figures to a limited extent. What is particularly striking is that politicians seem to be able to live quite well with this lack of knowledge – because they are spared some tough questions about immigration practice and integration deficits. Statistics often resemble a bikini: they show a lot and cover up the essentials.
