German migration and crime controversy

In early July 2026 the German government released the 2025 police crime statistics broken down by the nationality of suspects and victims after a request from the AfD. The tables showed that crimes involving non‑German suspects affected both German and non‑German victims, prompting AfD politicians to label the data as evidence of a “threatening reality of migrant crime” and to call for stricter measures.

By the end of the month, police figures for 2025 indicated a substantial decline in irregular migration and human‑smuggling operations, with reductions of roughly 42 % in smuggling activities and over 55 % in identified smuggled migrants compared with the previous year. Authorities attributed the drop to tighter border controls and internal checks. At the same time, a separate incident involving an Afghan asylum seeker brandishing a knife at a train station was highlighted in public debate, underscoring continued security concerns amid the broader discussion of migration policy.

Together, the releases illustrate a shifting narrative in Germany: from detailed crime‑by‑nationality data used to question migrant impact, to evidence of decreasing irregular migration alongside isolated security incidents that keep migration and crime issues at the forefront of political discourse.