Many of the expelled migrants simply return to Germany.

In the German state of Saxony, there are 1415 repeat offenders and asylum seekers who were involved in over 1,000 crimes in the fourth quarter of 2023, committing more than 4,200 crimes in just one year, according to CDU’s interior minister in Saxony, in response to a recent question from AfD MEP Sebastian Wippel.

The written answer reveals that the majority of the reported crimes were violent and against personal freedom (241). Als, there were 200 thefts and authorities have registered as many as 17 crimes against sexual autonomy.

The above statistics do not include crimes against foreigners, as the German news portal Nius points out.

The stats include not just asylum seekers, but individuals who are otherwise entitled to protection and asylum, as well as the so-called quota refugees and unauthorised residents, Saxony’s interior minister explained. Evidence shows that over three quarters of migrant repeat offenders hail from just ten countries: Syria (212), Tunisia (194), Libya (149), Georgia (135), Egypt (110), Afghanistan (110), Algeria (79), Russia (76), Iraq (62) and Morocco (60).

The interior ministry in Saxony was unable to quantify how these figures compare to the number of multiple German offenders but, when contacted by NIUS, they said there was no comparable, adequate assessment and record when it comes to violent, German repeat offenders.

Out of these 1.415 non-German multiple offenders, only 295 are in prison, which is just 21 per cent. 208 migrant repeat offenders, which translates into 15 percent, are wanted but currently at large. In 2023, authorities were able to deport 59 suspected repeat offenders, which is merely 4 percent.

Last year, when the German Bild newspaper asked the federal police about how many criminals they knew of who had been deported from Germany but returned, they received some shocking responses. As it turned out,

between 2020 and 2022, authorities in Germany apprehended 6.495 foreigners who either violated the country’s entry rules or its prevailing regulations on residence.

The figures are alarming in part because they are rising dramatically: in 2020 there were 1,614 incidents, in 2021 there were 2,074 (up 28.5 percent), while last year there were 2,807 arrests (up 35.3 percent).

Tightening the laws

Rejected asylum seekers will be deported more swiftly in the future, at least that is the general expectation in view of a new legislation adopted in early February.

The law on improving deportations extends the period of detention for removal from ten to 28 days, to give the authorities more time to deport. Additionally, police will have the right in the future to enter certain additional premises, for instance to apprehend individuals awaiting deportation who happen to live in a shared residence.

Authorities will also increase the penalties for human smuggling and the laws will allow asylum seekers to start working earlier, after only six months, instead of previous nine. In the case of asylum seekers, the duration of social benefits – that are significantly lower than state support provided for basic income holders – will be extended from one and a half to three years.