Austria: 25 Per Cent Rise in Sex Attacks, Almost Half Committed by Migrants

The Austrian government has released new crime statistics that show sex attacks have risen by more than 25 per cent since last year and that migrants make up close to half of all known suspects in sex crime cases.

The Austrian Interior Ministry released the figures this week which show that between 2015 and 2016, during the height of the migrant crisis, sex crimes went up 26.18 per cent. The reports also show a disproportionate number of suspects to be of a foreign origin and that Afghan nationals are particularly overrepresented, Kronen Zeitung reports.

The ministry said there were 5,253 sexual offences in 2016, up from the previous year’s number of 4,163.

In cases of rape, individuals of a foreign background make up a disproportionate number of rape suspects representing 44.3 per cent of all suspects in 2016. 

In cases of sexual harassment, foreigners made up 43 per cent of suspects. In context, the migrant population of Austria is estimated to be between 10 and 15 per cent.

Afghan nationals make up the largest segment of sex attackers among foreign suspects followed by Romanians, Germans, Serbs, and Turks.

The report comes after another report from earlier this year from Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka who noted that migrant sex offences had increased by a massive 133 per cent in the span of only a year.

The Interior Ministry also noted that individuals of foreign backgrounds were also responsible for around 51 per cent of all the thefts in the country.

Berlin Senate To Investigate Why Migrant Crime Stats So High https://t.co/2zMpx4J7Lk pic.twitter.com/SoUYtJtnO1

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Austria is not the only country in which migrants commit a disproportionate amount of crime compared to their share of the overall population. In Germany, their Interior Ministry released a report last year showing migrants being overrepresented in almost all forms of crime.

The issue has become such a problem in cities like Berlin that the Berlin Senate launched an investigation after reports emerged that almost half of the crime in the German capital was being committed by migrants.