The 2021 Ahr floods in Germany devastated the Rhineland-Palatinate region in North Rhine-Westphalia and killed 180 people. Despite the destruction, some saw the floods as an opportunity, with the ensuing chaos resulting in a wave of robberies and burglaries. Now, nearly two years after the event, it turns out that of the 275 alleged perpetrators, 196 were foreigners. In many cases, the government simply decided to not deport these perpetrators due to legal obstacles.
The information has only come to light due to a series of questions submitted by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party to the North Rhine-Westphalia government.
The government’s information indicates that in 630 out of the 1,057 cases, the perpetrators “exploited the emergency situation of the population.” The suspects targeted apartments and homes, but also robbed banks, hotels, and even construction sites. Most of the time, thieves were stealing jewelry and vehicles, according to Focus magazine.
The government report notes that 670 people were injured due to burglaries and raids on homes.
It has also come to light that only 48 sentences were delivered while 800 cases were simply dismissed. What may be even more damaging is that in 45 cases the government considered deportation but abandoned the effort due to legal obstacles. Germany, like many European countries, has long been unable or unwilling to deport criminal offenders, many of which commit crimes once again.
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The CDU, which is responsible for much of the mass immigration Germany has experienced, claimed it was “outraged” by the information.
“Anyone who acts like this should be severely punished and be forced to forfeit their right to hospitality,” said Gregor Golland, the leader of the CDU parliamentary group in the Düsseldorf state parliament.
Of the foreigners identified in the crimes, 92 were Romanians, 13 were Turks, 12 were Bulgarians and eight Syrians. An additional two suspects were members of a Lebanese clan. Clan crime remains a major issue in North Rhine-Westphalia.
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While this is the latest data, the AfD had submitted a similar question shortly after the flooding, which found that 81 percent of the suspects arrested for crimes that took advantage of the flooding were foreigners.
Ultimately, due to the way Germany records crime statistics, it is unclear what the ethnic background is of the German citizens who partook in the crime, since Germany, unlike neighboring Denmark, does not record the race or ethnicity of perpetrators.
