German Chancellor Friedrich Merz came under fire after, in recent days, he adopted a more hardline stance on mass migration and Germany\u2019s immigrant population. During a recent debate in the Bundestag, Merz pointed to the indisputable fact that a \u2018considerable proportion of violence\u2019 against women is committed by \u2018immigrant groups\u2019.<\/p>\n
These remarks drew sharp condemnation<\/a> from within his governing coalition, with Social Democratic Party (SPD) parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch describing them as an \u2018inadequate response\u2019, adding that \u2018violence against women has no origin or religion\u2019. \u2018It is about protecting victims, regardless of who the perpetrator is,\u2019 Miersch said.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udde9\ud83c\uddea\ud83d\udd34German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is under fire from the left for tying exploding violence with mass immigration.<\/p>\n “We have an explosion of violence in our society\u2026Then we also need to talk about where this violence comes from. And then we must also address the fact that a\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/ZPDuI4eHnv<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Remix News & Views (@RMXnews) March 27, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n However, the statistical background to Merz\u2019s statement is clear: foreigners commit 65 per cent of all sexual crimes<\/a> on German trains and in train stations, despite making up approximately 15 per cent of the population. It should be noted that German citizens with a migration background are not included in this 65 per cent figure. Data from North Rhine-Westphalia shows that foreigners commit half of all gang rapes.<\/p>\n Moreover, data presented by the German government last year shows that 63,977 women were victims of sexual violence in 2024 alone, with perpetrators disproportionately identified as foreigners, who account for 35 per cent of all suspects, according to figures released following an inquiry by the Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the Bundestag. Altogether, more than 460,000 crimes<\/a> were recorded over a ten-year period involving suspects from the ten main countries of origin: Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Morocco, Algeria, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, and Eritrea.<\/p>\n \u201863,977 women were victims of sexual violence in 2024 alone, with perpetrators disproportionately identified as foreigners\u2019<\/p>\n After receiving Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa<\/a>\u2014who formerly led the jihadist terrorist organization Hay\u2019at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)\u2014on 31 March, Merz announced that they had agreed on repatriating around 80 per cent of the \u2018Syrian women and men currently in Germany\u2019 within the next three years. However, he once again faced immediate backlash from his own governing coalition.<\/p>\n Merz subsequently backtracked<\/a> on the statement within little more than 24 hours, claiming that the figure had been mentioned by al-Sharaa, and that the German government, while taking note of it, is aware of the \u2018dimension of the task\u2019. This was almost immediately contradicted by the Syrian president, who said the \u2018statement was exaggerated\u2019 and did not originate from him, but from Merz.<\/p>\n Taking the Wind Out of AfD\u2019s Sails<\/p>\n The sequence of statements, the immediate criticism from within the coalition, and the subsequent reversal point to two conclusions. First, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which campaigned on a stricter migration platform in the 2025 early election, appears unable or unwilling to implement its agenda due to ideological divisions within the governing coalition with the SPD. This resistance is unlikely to change in the coming years, and neither is the situation, which results in increasing crime rates, sexual assaults and violence day by day.<\/p>\n Second, Merz appears to be attempting once again to steal AfD\u2019s platform through stricter migration rhetoric, without taking substantive steps to address the issue. His statements came after a series of significant state elections in western Germany, where AfD has markedly increased its support<\/a>\u2014doubling or nearly tripling its vote share compared to previous elections.<\/p>\n In Rhineland-Palatinate, AfD secured 19.5 per cent in mid-March, more than doubling its support and finishing just behind the SPD, which recorded its worst result in decades. Similarly, in Baden-W\u00fcrttemberg, the party doubled its support in the 8 March election, reaching 18.8 per cent, up from around 9 per cent in 2021. In municipal elections in Hesse, AfD secured 15.9 per cent statewide, again more than doubling its previous result. In several municipalities, the party surpassed 25 per cent, and in some cases finished ahead of the Greens, CDU, and SPD.<\/p>\n While AfD\u2019s traditional strongholds have been in eastern Germany, these results indicate that the party is gaining ground in western regions as well, where its message previously had limited resonance.<\/p>\n \u2018Merz appears to be attempting once again to steal AfD\u2019s platform through stricter migration rhetoric\u2019<\/p>\n Its rise is particularly pronounced among younger voters<\/a>. According to recent polling, AfD is the most popular party among 18 to 29-year-olds, with 28 per cent support nationwide. The second most popular in this group is Die Linke (The Left), with 21 per cent. AfD also leads among 30 to 39- and 40 to 49-year-olds, with 35 and 32 per cent, respectively.<\/p>\n This trend is reflected at the regional level. In Rhineland-Palatinate, AfD became the strongest party among 18 to 29-year-olds, securing 22 per cent of the vote, compared to 14 per cent for the CDU and 19 per cent for the SPD. \u2018AfD is the future,\u2019 the party stated in a post on X.<\/p>\n Ahead of the 2025 elections, Merz\u2019s CDU had successfully adopted AfD\u2019s strict migration platform, amid a campaign dominated by a series of terror attacks in its final weeks. The CDU ultimately won the election<\/a> with 30 per cent, while AfD achieved its best-ever result with 21 per cent, becoming the largest opposition force. Since then\u2014partly due to Merz\u2019s perceived inability or unwillingness to deliver on campaign promises\u2014CDU and AfD have been polling at roughly equal levels, around 25 per cent each.<\/p>\n