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Cologne Fairness Agreement: Parties remain silent about crime and migration!
In Cologne, parties are negotiating an agreement on the migration debate, while crime is rising in districts like Kalk.
Cologne Fairness Agreement: Parties remain silent about crime and migration!
Cologne is facing a critical phase of political debate. The upcoming local elections on September 14, 2025 are already casting their shadows. A notable step, which primarily affects asylum and migration policy, is the newly founded “Fairness Agreement”. How t-online.de reported, seven parties in Cologne, including the CDU, SPD, FDP and the Greens, have signed this agreement. Surprisingly, the AfD was deliberately excluded, which has already provoked initial reactions.
The agreement has clear guidelines: no negative statements about migrants may be made during the election campaign, and it is stated that migrants and refugees cannot be held responsible for social problems such as unemployment or internal security. This is an important step in actively combating racism and anti-Semitism in the city.
Focus on crime and migration
In recent years, the crime rate in Cologne, especially in the Mülheim and Kalk districts, has reached worrying levels. Loud focus.de The police are faced with an increase in drug and violent crimes, with 813 drug offenses already recorded in Kalk in 2023 - an increase of 35% compared to the previous year. In violent crimes, 83% of suspects were male and almost half did not have a German passport.
Political scientists warn that the integration of migrants and the social challenges associated with it cannot be ignored. The Cologne police chief expressed concern about foreign criminal gangs, which led to heated discussions. At the same time, the city administration is having difficulty responding adequately to social hotspots.
The facts about crime
Interestingly, data shows that migration does not directly correlate with increases in crime. According to figures from mediendienst-integration.de The number of crimes in Germany has fallen overall, even though the foreign population has grown significantly over the last 20 years. Between 2005 and 2019, crimes without violations of immigration law fell by around 16 percent, while the foreign population increased by around 39 percent. Nevertheless, the proportion of suspects of foreign origin in the crime statistics is disproportionately high.
The challenge remains: the high crime rate in certain districts of Cologne and the associated concerns of the population cannot simply be ignored. Cologne's urban society is faced with the task of both meeting the needs of migrants and addressing the security concerns of locals.
The upcoming election campaign will show how the parties can address this area of tension. The fairness agreement could be both an opportunity and a challenge - because a real reform of integration policy is essential in order to prevent further social tensions.