Foreign nationals are massively over-represented in Italian crime data released this week—and the figures are expected to be even worse for illegal migrants.
The information from the Interior Ministry shows that the incidence of foreign arrests is higher than that of Italians when it comes to
robberies (52.3%), including public robberies (60.1%), snatching (61%) and theft by sleight of hand (69%).
The percentages are lower for
sexual assault (43%),
drug dealing (39%),
car theft (24.5%),
smuggling (29%) and
intentional homicide (23.7%).
But foreigners are overrepresented in all these cases, too, considering they make up just nine percent of the Italian population.
The figure on sexual violence is particularly interesting, given Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s claim almost exactly a year ago that rising immigration is responsible for increased violence against women.
Italian crime researcher Paolo Pinotti told the Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper that “the data provided by the Interior Ministry does not reveal a breakdown between legal and illegal immigrants reported or arrested during the year.” He suggested that if it did, illegal migrants would bear the brunt of the responsibility for this overrepresentation.
Foreigners who are legally present in the country, on the other hand, have a propensity for crime in line with that of Italians.
Migrants account for the highest portion of arrests in the Tuscan city of Prato (62%). Milan and Florence are not that far behind, at 55.8% and 56% respectively.
Similar reports on migrant crime crises have emerged in recent years in France, Germany, and elsewhere across the continent.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
