Germany: crime increases by 9% thanks to asylum seekers

hannover - The arrival of asylum seekers in Germany causes more crime, and especially North African men are responsible for this, while for example Syrians keep well-deserved. That appears from research published this week.

The investigation is led by criminologist Christian Pfeiffer, former Justice Minister of the Land of Lower Saxony and now working at the University of Zurich. The state of Lower Saxony asked him for the investigation.

What seems? Crime in that state rose by 10 percent between 2014 and 2016, of which 9 percent comes from refugees. This appears from police figures. The majority of the victims are also refugees.

The increase is not at all strange, says Pfeiffer: the asylum seekers are all young men, and that group is overrepresented in the crime figures anyway. In Germany there is already talk of a 'women's deficit'.

Mothers, sisters and wives could keep the men more in line, the researchers write. Family reunification is therefore 'not stupid', Pfeiffer says to Der Spiegel.

Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans are relatively quiet, but Moroccans, Algerians and Tunisians are causing more problems. While the latter group is only 0.9 percent of the refugees, they are responsible for 17.1 percent of the crime.

The probable reason: these North Africans are told at an early stage that they are not allowed to stay. This is the opposite for refugees from war zones. They hear 'welcome, it will work'. And then 'they try to behave', according to Pfeiffer.

Yet researchers do not criticize the 'no' for North Africans: 'We can not be the country that absorbs all migrants with all the trouble of the world,' Pfeiffer told Der Spiegel.

The researchers argue for clearer laws: when refugees can stay, and when they are not, they must become crystal clear. As soon as they know they can stay, they behave better. Germany also has to give more money to rejected asylum seekers. But, says Pfeiffer, that is only possible if the EU succeeds in guarding the external borders. 'We can not get them all in, and then bring them back with a regulation. '

Refugees must also have a better chance of sport, language courses and internships to prevent violence in a preventive manner.