Berlin Police Chief: ‘Most’ Violence Committed by Young Migrant Men
24th June 2024
Most of the perpetrators of “violence in Berlin are young, male and have a non-German background. This also applies to knife violence,” says Barbara Slowik, the police commissioner of Berlin. In an interview with broadcaster n-tv, she talked about the recent spate of knife attacks in Germany, mostly committed by migrants—particularly young Afghan men.
“In recent years, we have definitely seen an increase [in knife attacks] in Berlin, especially among children, young people and adolescents. Knife perpetrators are getting younger,” she said, adding that there has been an increase in violent crime overall in the capital, and that non-Germans, i.e., foreigners, are overrepresented.
The recent murder of a police officer by an Afghan failed asylum seeker shocked Germany and fuelled the debate on illegal immigration, migrant crime and whether Afghan criminals should be deported. The killing led to some politicians calling for knives to be banned in public places. Barbara Slowik said no tangible steps to introduce such a ban are currently planned. “If you look at the locations where the police have had to deal with knife crimes in Berlin, they are spread over almost the entire urban area. There is no one hotspot,” she explained.