TA Police: 45% jump in African migrant suspects
02/28/2013 01:21
Tel Aviv police report significant rise in the number of criminal cases opened against Sudanese, Eritreans.
African migrant in south Tel Aviv Photo: Baz Ratner/Reuters
There was a 53.2 percent increase in the number of Sudanese and Eritreans
suspected of crimes in 2012, and a 45% increase in criminal cases opened against
members of this community, according to figures presented by the Tel Aviv District Police on
Wednesday.
The figures state that there were 1,048 Sudanese and Eritreans
named as suspects in crimes in 2012, as opposed to 684 in 2011, and 1,092
criminal cases opened against them in 2012 as opposed to 2011. The report does
not include specific categories for other foreigners.
The district, home
to the majority of the more than 60,000 African migrants in Israel, released the
figures as part of their annual statistical round-up on crime in the
district.
The figures on African migrants were the most glaring on the
list, which included a 65% rise in the number of arrests of juveniles for
robbery, to 170 from 103 in 2011.
The figures showed a total of 76,371
criminal cases opened in 2012, a drop of 1.6% over the 77,603 in
2011.
Other drops included a 10.5% reduction in vehicle break-ins, and a
16.4% drop in arrests for drug possession.
The report also says that
there were 16 murders solved in 2012, as opposed to 19 in 2011.
The
district is responsible not only for the city of Tel Aviv but also for Ramat
Gan, Givatayim, Bat Yam, Holon, Bnei Brak, Herzliya and other cities in the Tel
Aviv area.