Getty German police allege immigrants are twice as likely to commit crimes as Germans

The report from the German Federal Criminal Police Office titled "Crime in the context of immigration" specifies the number of cases police dealt with in the first three quarters of 2015. In the first nine months of 2015, the police registered a total of 214,600 offences or attempted offences committed by immigrants. Yet the number of cases in the third quarter was already 23 per cent less than in the first quarter, showing fewer crimes were being committed. Under the term "immigrants", the police officials collected the data of all refugees and asylum seekers, whether they had just applied, were granted permission to stay, were tolerated, or had their application rejected and were on the list to be deported.

While the police did not give any data about the total amount of migrants, the most recent numbers from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees stated that on 30th June there were 1,999,877 newcomers in Germany fitting in the "immigrants" category used by the police. If the 214,600 crimes are related to these two million immigrants, it shows 10,730 cases per 100,000 migrants. Local media cited by way of comparison that for the entire year of 2015 (the most recent statistics available), the authorities in Germany counted a total of 6,330,649 offences. This would correspond to 4,747,987 cases over 9 months - and an average of 5,790 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in Germany - making newly arrived immigrants almost twice as likely tocommit a crime.

Getty In the first nine months of 2015, the police registered a total of 214,600 offences by immigrants

According to the police, most perpetrators and suspects came from Syria (31,173), followed by Algeria (18,891), Afghanistan (17,617), Morocco (17,610), Iraq (13,915) and Albania (12,795). These numbers must be seen compared to the origins and sheer number of different migrant groups who have been coming to Germany since the beginning of 2015. A total of 64 percent of all new arrivals came from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, but their share in crime suspects and perpetrators is only 33 percent among all immigrants. Much more likely to commit crimes are immigrants from North African countries, who were only two percent of the total number of newcomers but their share in the immigrant crime statistics was a whopping 22 per cent. Especially in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the German police have long warned about groups of out-of-control North Africans who have no hope of a positive asylum decision and are causing numerous problems in cities such as Cologne and Dusseldorf The officials also noted a clear trend: Syrians, Afghans and Iraqis are becoming less and less criminal when looking at the numbers. In the case of suspects from African countries, however, there was a sharp increase.

Getty Christian Pfeiffer, a German criminologist sees a link between crime and migrants

While a large part of the acts were minor offences such as fare-dodging or pickpocketing, they also included 44 cases of murder or manslaughter in which the number of immigrant perpetrators was four times as high as the national average, as well as 135 reported sexual crimes by newcomers which is also almost four times as high as the national average. Christian Pfeiffer, a German criminologist and former Minister of Justice in the State of Lower Saxony, considers the comparison between migrants and average crime to be legitimate, but stresses an important caveat. He said: "In every population the group of 15- to 36-year-old men is the most dangerous,committing more than half of all violent acts. Among refugees, this group is much larger in percentage terms because old people, many women and children did not want to take the hardships of fleeing their country. This must be taken into account when interpreting these statistics." In Germany, two out of three refugees who apply for asylum in Germany are male, according to federal research from May 2016.

Pfeiffer also noted that many migrants come from patriarchal societies, which brings added social problems. Yet he also strongly emphasised the differences between groups of immigrants. He said: "Refugees who have a chance to be recognised, who took their families with them and earn money are much less criminal than refugees who have nothing to lose. This group knows that soon they must leave anyway. So they are more likely to seek clandestine employment andcrime." Pfeiffer concluded that from his point of view as a criminologist, the German state must make it easier for true refugees to bring along their families, combined with intensifying efforts to deport those who do not have any prospects for a positive asylum decision.