The German Federal Ministry of the Interior has voiced support for a move by the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) to include information on multiple citizenships in crime statistics.
A ministry spokesperson told the “Tagesspiegel” newspaper that the NRW initiative – to document all citizenships held by both perpetrators and victims – is “understandable and sensible” adding that recording multiple nationalities “leads to greater transparency.
The spokesperson cautioned, however, that incorporating this data into the national police crime statistics (Bundes-PKS) requires agreement from all German states. Achieving this will necessitate a consensus-based decision amongst all regional and federal authorities, a process which has historically taken considerable time for similar data criteria adjustments.