A German Social Democrat member of the European Parliament has sparked outrage after claiming during a plenary debate that gang rapes “do not exist,” despite official crime data showing hundreds of cases recorded each year in Germany.
Speaking in the European Parliament during a debate on Spain’s planned large-scale regularization of illegal migrants, SPD MEP Birgit Sippel objected to remarks made by AfD lawmaker Christine Anderson, who warned that Spain’s decision could have consequences for other European countries, including Germany.
Anderson told the chamber, “Spain is declaring 500,000 illegals to be legal. A violation of Schengen. They can now maraud freely through Europe across all borders. And they will do so, and they mainly where there are the highest social benefits, like Germany. Our homeland is no longer recognizable. Brutal knife attacks and gang rapes have become everyday life in Germany.”
NEW: Left-wing MEP claims that migrant gang rape in Europe "does not exist."
At yesterday's European Parliament plenary, Birgit Sippel was outraged by a speech from @AndersonAfDMdEP, who had expressed concern over Spain's mass amnesty for illegal immigrants, and warned that gang… pic.twitter.com/bTBprpQpTD
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) February 11, 2026Responding to Anderson’s speech, Sippel urged the chair to intervene, stating, “Can you please intervene? The former speaker used the words ‘people are marauding through Europe.’ That word ‘marauding’ is used for criminal gangs. She also spoke of group rapes that do not exist. I would ask you to intervene against such word choices and not just ask speakers to tone it down.”
However, German federal crime statistics contradict the claim that such crimes do not occur. Data compiled by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and published through federal government replies to parliamentary questions show that cases categorized as group rapes — although not a separate legal category under German law — are recorded annually through police crime statistics filters identifying cases involving multiple suspects.
According to the federal government’s official response, police registered 789 such cases in 2022, following 677 cases in 2021 and 704 cases in 2020, with annual totals consistently numbering in the hundreds over the past decade. Authorities note methodological changes over time, but the data nevertheless confirm that such offenses are recorded regularly across Germany.
All within the last six months ⬇️
Yet Germany is convicting politicians for publishing gang rape statistics showing the disproportionate involvement of foreign-born offenders. pic.twitter.com/Tpd0nYaTdV
— Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) May 9, 2024The figures originate from a parliamentary inquiry submitted by AfD lawmakers, to which the federal government replied that the term “gang rape” is not explicitly codified in criminal law, requiring special statistical filtering of rape offenses committed by more than one suspect. Fact-checking groups have argued that precise classification is complicated because several forms of sexual assault fall under the same legal provision, yet the government’s own statistics still show hundreds of incidents annually involving multiple offenders.
Meanwhile, police data in Germany’s capital also show a sharp rise in sexual offenses more broadly. According to figures reported by Berlin media outlet B.Z., police recorded 7,475 sexual crimes in Berlin in 2024 — equivalent to more than twenty offenses per day, including more than two rapes daily. The data stem from a parliamentary inquiry in the Berlin House of Representatives and show that non-German suspects accounted for more than 38 percent of identified suspects, above their share of the city’s population.
Just one day after Sippel made her remarks, Remix News reported how, in Düsseldorf, three Syrian nationals are accused of raping a 27-year-old woman after she became separated from friends, with two suspects currently on trial.
Last month, we reported how a 15-year-old girl was dragged into a bush on Jan. 3, in the Wiesbaden district of Biebrich and raped by two men “speaking broken German,” who remain on the run from police.
Authorities in Heinsberg arrested five Syrian men last year over the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl, while in Dresden, two teenage suspects allegedly robbed and sexually assaulted a Czech tourist at knifepoint. Other recent trials involve cases in Düsseldorf and Heilbronn, where two Afghan nationals stood trial for drugging and raping two teenage girls, aged just 13 and 15.
Sippel’s remarks quickly sparked anger online, with many users accusing her of dismissing victims’ experiences. Dozens of responses under Sippel’s social media posts criticized her intervention, with many users calling her remarks insensitive or disconnected from public concerns over crime and migration policy.
One commenter wrote, “Completely detached from reality…disgusting, mocking, and terrible to deny and ridicule victims and facts in this way.” Another asked whether she would retract her statement publicly, adding that victims would want to speak with her.
“A woman who lies by claiming that gang rape does not exist should resign immediately,” said a third.
In total, 99 comments had been made under Sippel’s most recent social media post on Facebook — every single one expressed anger at the comment she had made in disregarding gang rape as a valid concern.
