1 in 10 crime suspects is a foreigner without fixed abode

In 2013 nearly one in five registered crime suspects was a foreigner. Over half of this group, one in ten crime suspects, had no fixed abode within the Netherlands. They were tourists, seasonal labourers, illegal residents and traveling criminal gangs. There has been a sharp increase in the number of Eastern-Eur0pean suspects since 2007 according to the figures released today by Statistics Netherlands.

Half of all foreign crime suspects do not live in the Netherlands

In 2013 about 31 thousand registered foreign crime suspects had no fixed abode within the Netherlands. This is over half of the total group of foreign suspects and 10 percent of all crime suspects. In 2007 some 7 percent of all crime suspects were foreigners without fixed abode.

Between 2007 and 2013 the total number of suspects, and also the total number of foreign suspects fell, while the number of suspects from Eastern Europe increased. The largest groups of suspects from Eastern Europe in 2013 came from Poland (8.2 thousand) and Romania (5.8 thousand). Another 1.7 thousand people from Bulgaria and 1.5 thousand people from Lithuania were also registered as crime suspects. The largest increase in the number of suspects comes from Romania, who are registered 3.5 times as often as in 2007, and Bulgaria, 2.4 times as often. People from Poland were registered 1.7 as often and from Lithuania 1.6 times. Some 80 percent of the suspects from these countries have no fixed abode. Dutch suspects without fixed abode are rare.

Sharp increase in the number of workers and immigrants from Eastern

The number of crime suspects from Eastern European countries has been on the increase in recent years. This development is partly explained by the fact that several Central and Eastern European countries joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007. As a consequence, the number of registered workers and immigrants from these countries has also risen sharply from 98 thousand in 2007 to 238 thousand in 2012. The number of registered workers and immigrants from Poland has increased by 150 percent since 2007 reaching 166 thousand, the number of Bulgarians tripled reaching 18 thousand, whereas the number of Romanians rose by 71 percent to 14 thousand. So the number of crime suspects from these countries is related to the increase in the number of people staying in the Netherlands briefly or for a fairly long time.

Most frequently registered offences by foreigners

When the figures were analysed, it turned out that many nationalities have their own ‘criminal specialisation’. The Dutch police mainly register Belgians, Germans and the French for drug-related crimes. Among Polish suspects it is mainly shoplifting and drunk driving. Romanians are relatively often suspected of shoplifting and pickpocketing. These are the only two offences that saw a growing number of suspects in recent years. Of all people suspected of pickpocketing in 2013, 40 percent were Romanians and 16 percent Bulgarians. Over 20 percent of Lithuanian suspects are registered by the police for theft from cars and relatively many are suspected of shoplifting. Violence in public is relatively common among the British.