BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's government vowed on Tuesday to tackle rising crime, in particular a jump in the number of suspects with non-German backgrounds, as it tries to stem the appeal of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in state elections this year.
Presenting data showing a 5.5% rise in overall crime last year and a 13.5% increase in the number of suspects with foreign backgrounds, the interior minister said Germany must improve integration and speed up deportations.
"Foreign offenders must leave Germany much more quickly. The strict deportation rules we have created must now be enforced," said minister Nancy Faeser, a Social Democrat in Chancellor Olaf Scholz's uneasy three-way coalition.
"Anyone who doesn't stick to the rules must leave," she said, adding she also had zero tolerance for violent crime which was up 8.6% last year.
Opposition parties, both conservatives and the AfD, have pounced on the figures to call for tougher migrant policies such as tighter border controls and more deportations.
"What the AfD has warned about for years can no longer be hidden ... new crime statistics have triggered a debate on 'foreigner crime'," said Richard Graupner of the AfD in Bavaria.
Most polls put the AfD in second place nationally and on top in three eastern states which hold elections in September.