Germany: Interior minister gets tough on organized crime

Germany's interior minister, Nancy Faeser of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD), is making headlines for suggesting that members of criminal gangs who come from migrant communities should be deported even if no specific offenses can be proven against them.

The proposition, which has already drawn criticism from the SPD's Green Party coalition partners, is part of a draft discussion paper published in early August.

The paper states: "Currently, members of organized criminal groups can only be considered for deportation if they have been convicted of a crime." The authors go on to propose a major change to that approach. Namely, that such individuals should be treated like members of terrorist organizations, in which membership alone is a crime, and grounds for deportation.

Organized crime groups who define themselves by their family links and shared ethnic identity are referred to by German police and in German media as "clans." But critics say the term "clan crime" puts relatives under general suspicion and is unfair to those who are not criminals. They draw a distinction between joining a criminal gang or terrorist organization and simply being a family relative.

"Family affiliation is not a criminal activity," German Interior Ministry spokesperson Maximilian Kall explained on Monday (August 7, 2023) after the plan drew heavy criticism.

Kall went on to say that every individual family member threatened with deportation under the new rules would have to be proven to be connected to criminal activity. Still, if the new proposal were to become reality, deportations would be possible, "if the facts justify the conclusion that someone was or is part of a criminal organization."

A person's true affiliation with a criminal association must first be investigated, emphasized Dirk Peglow, chair of the BDK trade union, which represents Germany's criminal police. Peglow told DW that was the reason he was calling for more investigators, rather than streamlined deportations.

Peglow also points out that deportations are always difficult to carry out, even if the individual in question is a convicted criminal. Further complicating the matter is the fact that Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) statistics show roughly a third of criminal gang members are German citizens anyhow, meaning deportation is not an option.

Germany's organized crime gangs

The BKA has been compiling focused data on criminal gangs with family connections in its Organized Crime Situation Reports since 2018, defining a "clan" as "an informal social organization determined by a common understanding of the ancestry of its members."

Defining characteristics include strict hierarchical structures, an intense sense of belonging, and a mutual understanding of values and norms. If belonging to such a group "represents a connecting component that promotes the committing of a crime or hinders the investigation of a crime," the BKA deems it "clan crime."

The BKA has also documented the origins of the families it has kept track of. Topping the statistics are Mhallami Kurds, who come from southeastern Turkey and Lebanon. They are followed by groups with Turkish and Arab origins, as well as some who come from the Western Balkans or the North African Maghreb.

These criminal families do not operate throughout Germany but rather focus on certain regional areas. More than two-thirds of all investigations into such groups occurred in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Lower Saxony, Bremen and Berlin.

In late May, for instance, six members of a Berlin crime gang were convicted of stealing and partially destroying historic jewels worth more than €113 million ($119 million) from Dresden's Green Vault museum. 

In June, massive brawls between extended Syrian and Lebanese families made headlines in the Ruhr area of western Germany. The latest situation report from Germany's most populous state, North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Ruhr area is located, reads, "Criminal behavior by Turkish-Arab members of criminal groups is subject to public perception and therefore is not only relevant to police but also relevant politically."

That political relevance has prompted Germany's coalition government — made up of the Social Democrats (SPD), Greens and Free Democrats (FDP) — to declare this type of crime a priority.

Faeser's proposal is also being viewed in light of her candidacy for the job of state premier in Hessen, where elections are scheduled for October.

Brute force?

The 2022 NRW situation report on "clan crime" states that almost a third of crimes committed (28%) were "crimes of brutality" — in other words: assault.

According to the BKA, violence is "often seen as a legitimate means of conflict resolution, as opposed to tolerance and compromise, which members of criminal gangs see as a sign of weakness." Reports speak of "significant risk potential, for instance, through the use of various weapons." Moreover, they note that, "trivial incidents can be interpreted as disrespectful acts" leading to "riotous clashes."   

But criminologist and former police officer Thomas Müller told DW that truly dangerous organized criminal activity takes place silently and in secret. Müller spent seven years investigating organized crime in Bremen. The fight against "clan criminal activity" is ripe for political exploitation, says Müller, who laments the "collateral damage" of the approach because it causes great harm to innocent people who may come from a similar community or have a similar name but may not be involved in any type of illegal activity.

Do not criminalize extended families

In a January 2023 study for the Germany-based immigration research group Mediendienst Integration, researcher Mahmoud Jaraba objected to the widely held perception of sprawling crime families. After seven years of investigations in the field, Jaraba is certain of one thing: Criminal activity is not being perpetrated by entire extended families, but rather by what he describes as "sub-sub-clans."

At this level, there are strong notions of solidarity, shared identity and sometimes also central leaders. Only a few members of an extended family might be criminals. However, they not only receive a disproportionately high level of attention from the media and politicians; they often actively seek it.

In 2020, for instance, Mahmoud Al-Zein, the head of a well-known Arab crime gang, published an autobiography titled, "The Godfather of Berlin," which deals at length with topics such as honor, respect, making one's own rules and enforcing them.

Most members of the extended families, however, criticize relatives' criminal activities, Jaraba said, as it means that they suffer from social discrimination because they are held jointly responsible for the misconduct of their notorious namesakes.

This article was originally published in German. The translated version was updated on August 8, 2023, by Jon Shelton to provide additional context.

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