Do migrants commit more violent crimes than Germans? Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann spoke in an interview with the "Passauer Neue Presse" about an "increased risk" and referred to the crime statistics. Thuringia's AfD-chef Bjorn Hoecke also expressed similar views at an election campaign event on Sunday in Cottbus.

FACTS:The number of cases of violent crime has decreased over the past two years. Violent crime is one of the areas in police crime statistics (PKS) that summarize, among others, dangerous and serious bodily injury, robbery, murder, murder, rape and sexual assault.

Foreign crime: these are the facts

In principle, only cases registered by the police are recorded in the statistics; the dark field of undeclared crime remains outside. "The PKS does not provide an exact reflection of the reality of crime, but rather a more or less strong rapprochement with reality depending on the type of crime," the PKS says for the year 2018.

The Federal Criminal Office (BKA) deals with crime in the context of immigration in a federal picture 2018. It follows that, for certain violent crimes, immigrants are disproportionately often among the suspects. This applies, for example, to crimes against life (14.3 per cent). Compared to the previous year, however, this is a decrease (2017:15,0 per cent).

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In the case of physical injury and robbery, the proportion of at least one suspected immigrant in the year 2018 was at 10,7 per cent, a slight increase compared to the previous year (2017:10,3 per cent) and a five-year maximum. In the case of crimes against sexual self-determination, last year it was a percentage of 11.8 percent with a suspected immigrant (2017:11,9 percent).

However, the Federal situational picture also shows a reason for the excessive proportion of suspected immigrants in certain violent crimes:The age and gender structure of this group. The suspected immigrants, for example, in the case of crimes against life were almost without exception male (97 percent) and in more than 70 percent younger than 30 years. The group of young men between 14 and 30 years, irrespective of their origin, is the one most frequently involved in violent crime, Criminal statistics.

Crime among migrants: There is a risk group

If you look at the demography of those seeking protection in Germany in general, the picture is consolidated:According to the figures of the Federal Statistical Office, their average age was deceptive at the end of the last year 29,4 years. The proportion of men was less than 63 per cent. The German population was on average 45,4 years old at the end of 2017 and about 49 percent male (latest available figures).

It is also necessary to distinguish within immigrants between those who live here and those who have no prospects in Germany. While those with a perspective tend to commit (violent) crimes on a lower average, people with no prospect of staying and working above average often commit such crimes.

Crime: These factors influence risk

"Now people from other cultural circles come to us unexpectedly, in whose homeland the non-violence, as we nurture it, is not yet so self-evident," said the Bavarian Interior Minister in the interview. In this way he indicates that willingness to violence may be culturally conditioned. Sociologist Clemens Kroneberg expresses concern: "Whether someone becomes violent depends on many factors."

There are great social differences within countries, and one cannot speak of a culture of a country which itself leads to violence. "To identify culture of origin as a central cause tends to arouse fears, reinforce prejudices and lead to a general suspicion of fellow people from certain cultures."

The result of the fact check:

EMPLOYMENT: There is an increased risk of violent crime among migrants.

ASSESSMENT: partially correct

Read more:The AfD systematically incites prejudice against immigrants

From RND/dpa