A study on juvenile delinquency in the German province of Lower Saxony found that radical ideology is widely prevalent among the Muslim youth population, with nearly half favouring an Islamic caliphate over democracy.
A “dark field study” conducted by the Criminological Research Institute of Lower Saxony (KFN) has raised concern over the Islamist beliefs held by young Muslim students in the province, about 300 of whom were surveyed for the study.
According to the research, almost half (45.8 per cent) of grade nine Muslims — with an average age of 15 — said that they believe that Islamic theocracy is the best form of government, the Bild newspaper reports.
More than two-thirds (67.8 per cent) agreed with the idea that the rules of the Qur’an were more important than the laws of Germany, while over a third (35.3 per cent) said that they have an “understanding for violence against people who insult Allah or the Prophet Muhammad.”
Meanwhile, 21.2 per cent of the Muslim students surveyed agreed that the “threat to Islam from the Western world justifies Muslims defending themselves with violence.”
Carl Philipp Schröder of the KFN noted that while the survey is not necessarily representative of all young Muslims in Germany, he said: “The data in the latest Lower Saxony survey give cause for concern and show how important political education is in schools.”
The survey comes as rising instances of antisemitic attacks and increased terror threats in Europe following the October 7th Hamas attacks on Israel have forced the leftist coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz into admitting the need for immigration reforms, which will reportedly include increased efforts to prevent illegal migration, as well as stepping up deportations and cutting welfare benefits to alleged asylum seekers.
However, the government in Berlin is said to still favour easing restrictions on obtaining German citizenship and intends to lower labour standards, such as decreasing the income threshold, to entice more migrants to come to the country. Furthermore, the Social Democrat-led government is also said to be planning on creating a new one-year visa for migrants to come to Germany to look for work rather than having a job lined up before coming to the country.
The radical open borders agenda, which started under former Chancellor Angela Merkel and has continued under Scholz, has seen the demographic makeup of the country radically change over the past two decades.
According to the results of the 2021 micro-census, the number of people living in Germany classified as having a “migration background” — either those who immigrated themselves or had at least one foreign-born parent — rose to a record high of 22.3 million, or more than a quarter of the population. In comparison, when the government began keeping such records in 2005 there were 15.3 million people with a migration background living in the country.
In comparison, when looking at the proportion of immigrants to the whole population among European Union states, Germany only trailed Ireland, Sweden and the EU micro-members Cyprus, Malta, and Luxembourg as of 2021, according to Eurostat.
As of 2022, between 5.3 and 5.6 million Muslims with a migration background were recorded as living in Germany, with the largest cohort being of Turkish origin.
Projections from the Pew Research Centre have claimed that if the mass migration policies continue, the Muslim population of Germany could rise to 20 per cent by the year 2050, with the polling firm noting that Germany — with its historically strong economy, generous welfare benefits, and lax immigration enforcement — has long been the destination of choice in Europe for alleged asylum seekers from the Middle East.