German police deal with migrants
As Deutsche Welle notes, Germany had not previously linked information about the origin of offenders with immigration statistics and the number of refugees. The Cologne police did this for the first time, compiling data on the nationality of migrants who entered the country illegally and later committed crimes. The report, covering the period from October 2014 to November 2015, was published in the police magazine Forum.
The results show: prejudices against all refugees as a whole are unfounded. Most of them do not commit any offenses after registration. It is worth noting: migrants from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan hardly appear in the report. Out of more than 1,100 Syrians in Cologne, only five came to the attention of the police – less than 0.5 percent.
The situation is somewhat different with migrants from Morocco, Algeria or Tunisia. The proportion of offenders among people from North African countries reaches 40 percent. Similar figures are seen among asylum seekers from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. These foreigners particularly often commit crimes such as car theft, shoplifting and robbery.
It is mainly about young men, explains Martin Lulsdorf, a representative of the Cologne branch of the German police union: 'They have no chance of getting asylum, no right to work, they have no prospects either at home or in Germany, so they finance their stay here through criminal activity.' However, this statistic is not related to sexual crimes like those committed on New Year's Eve in Cologne, the police emphasize.
Other statistical data was compiled by the police of the federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, where the number of residential burglaries has increased over the past year. In 2015, nearly 8,600 such cases were recorded – 1,100 more than the previous year. 'The data show that possibly some migrants from the Balkan countries are largely responsible for the rise in burglaries,' notes Schleswig-Holstein Interior Minister Stefan Studt. The police speak of 'robbery caravans passing through cities and municipalities' and about a hundred 'thief gangs'. According to police, the perpetrators are very well organized and difficult to catch – the clearance rate is only about nine percent.
By the end of November 2015, investigators had identified 221 people who could shed light on the circumstances of residential burglaries. 80 of them turned out to be refugees or asylum seekers. Among the foreigners, 135 had citizenship of Balkan countries, and 27 of Eastern European countries. Albanian offenders come to the police's attention most often. 'All 11 thief gangs that we are investigating throughout Schleswig-Holstein consist of asylum seekers from the Balkans,' notes an officer of the state criminal police office.
Despite this, Stefan Studt urges not to lump all refugees together. 'About 50,000 migrants are housed in Schleswig-Holstein, and we have not recorded an increase in crime in the area of refugee reception centers,' he emphasizes.
At the same time, the Interior Minister of Schleswig-Holstein warns: some migrants who abuse the hospitality of the federal state have no place here. According to him, the police have increased the number of officers: additional resources are being used in the investigation of crimes committed by professional burglars. In addition, the asylum applications of these people must be processed as a priority and the process expedited, Stefan Studt believes. In case of rejection of asylum, this will give the authorities the opportunity to deport the migrants from Germany, he explains.
How effective such a solution could be is demonstrated by the case of a 20-year-old Albanian. He has been in northern Germany since the end of 2014 but only submitted an asylum application in November 2015. Police arrested him 25 times, mainly in connection with residential burglaries.
Stefan Studt is against restricting visa-free travel with the Western Balkan states but expects certain assistance from their authorities. 'If a person from a Western Balkan country has to leave Germany but destroys his documents, we need to quickly get a document replacing the passport. I don't want people to suffer from entry restrictions. I want us to be able to move freely in a free Europe,' Studt says.
For now, statistical data characterizing the link between the number of refugees and the crime rate are available only to a very limited extent. A study conducted by the Federal Criminal Police Office in November 2015 showed that 'refugees commit crimes on average as often as the local population.' As explained by the Interior Ministry of the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, reliable data may appear in six months. 'Since January 1, 2016, police officers throughout Germany, when taking a statement about a crime committed, can mark 'refugee',' noted a representative of the state Interior Ministry.