Macron’s France: Almost All Serious Crimes Increased in 2022

Statistics released by the French interior ministry have revealed that nearly all serious crimes increased in number last year, including murder, sexual violence, and theft.

France’s Interior Ministry released the 2022 statistics on crime on Tuesday, noting that sexual violence, domestic violence, drug use, and intentional assault and battery had all increased by over 10 per cent compared to 2021.

According to the statistics, domestic violence increased by 16.9 per cent, intentional assault increased by 15.3 per cent, and sexual violence increased by 11.4 per cent, newspaper Le Parisien reports.

The number of murders in 2022 stood at 948 — 7.8 per cent higher than in 2021.

Drug trafficking and illegal drug consumption are also up on 2021, by 3.6 per cent and 12.9 per cent, respectively. The illegal drug trade has been linked to violence in various parts of France in recent years, with a report from last November suggesting that the first six months of 2022 saw a 25 per cent increase in murders and attempted murders between criminals.

The report also noted an increase in kidnappings between rival drug networks, with some victims even being kidnapped in neighbouring Belgium and being left for dead after being brought across the border.

A previous report released in 2021 revealed that between 2000 and 2020, France’s homicide rate increased by 91 per cent, with some comparing the growing deadly violence in France to the situation in the United States.

“While we are rightly moved by the crisis of mass murders and violence that is returning to the United States, a similar movement that is not very visible, but more and more pronounced, is affecting France,” French criminologist Alain Bauer said at the time.

The rise in criminality has led many French to fear for their own safety in their day-to-day lives, with a poll released in December noting that two-thirds of French people are concerned about safety issues and often worry about the issue.

While the statistics do not go into detail bout the causes of the increased criminality across France, Paris police have sounded alarms over the role of migrant minors in crime in the French capital.

Police say the migrant minors — or migrants claiming to be minors, at least — were behind as much as 44 per cent of pickpocketing and 32 per cent of robberies with violence in 2020, despite being a small fraction of the overall population of the city.  

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.