High percentage of foreigners imprisoned in Germany

The percentage of foreign inmates in German jails rose by 18% in 2023, and 41% of suspects were foreign nationals, according to German media reports. Because Hamburg has the most prisoners in Germany, its percentage of foreigners is higher than that of other states.

The German Parliament's report states that 58% of Hamburg's inmates are foreigners. According to statistics, there are currently 1,251 foreign inmates in Hamburg. There are 2,110 prisoners in Berlin, 56 percent of whom are foreigners.

In the meantime, the local newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung stated that the city of Augsburg in southern Germany has opened an investigation into claims of prisoners abuse. Inmates at Gablingen prison reportedly endured beatings and were kept naked in specially guarded cells without mattresses or blankets.

The state of affairs in this prison is so bad that the Augsburg public prosecutor's office has launched an assault investigation against a number of prison staff members, including the deputy director. Additionally, the police searched the prison and seized a number of cases.

Katrina Bauer, a former medical staffer at Gablingen prison, reported that she observed 80 percent of the inmates in their cells without mattresses or blankets. According to her, inmates who attacked staff members or attempted suicide were moved to these cells.

"The presumption of innocence is valid until the process is completed," stressed Georg Eisenreich, the state justice minister of Bavaria, emphasizing the need to expose such serious charges.