According to a recent response by the German federal government to a written question from the AfD parliamentary group, the number of crimes across the country increased in almost all areas last year.
Statistics show that the number of violent crimes rose from 25,640 in 2023 to 27,160 in the past year, a 5.93% increase. Sexual crimes, in particular, saw a significant rise of 19.18%, from 1,898 to 2,262. The police also had to deal with more cases of weapon and property damage, which increased by 10.04% and 5.52%, respectively.
While the number of knife attacks on trains decreased by around 18%, the number of such incidents at train stations increased by 20.54%, with 404 cases in 2023 and 487 in the past year.
Statistics also reveal that non-German suspects were more than three times as likely to be involved in crimes at German train stations, with a disproportionate representation in property, sexual and violent crimes. This is in contrast to the overall foreign population in Germany, which was around 15.2% in 2023, according to the Federal Statistical Office.
The AfD’s Martin Hess, who submitted the question to the government, stated that train stations are developing into “no-go areas.” He criticized the opposition parties, saying that they are failing to address the issue and instead downplay the facts.
The AfD is calling for a “radical rethink” and demands “zero tolerance for foreign perpetrators of violence, with foreign nationals who are not German citizens to be deported consistently.”
In contrast, the Left Party’s Clara Bünger criticized the AfD’s question, stating that it is obvious that the underlying motives are racist and that the aim is to construct a negative image of a group of people.
The FDP, which will no longer be represented in the Bundestag, described the current statistics as “alarming” and emphasized the need for a change in asylum and migration policy, particularly in light of the high proportion of non-German suspects involved in violent and sexual crimes.