In May 2026, authorities in the southern German city of Nuremberg set up EKO Kajal, a special police commission, after uncovering a suspected abuse scheme targeting vulnerable underage girls.
German police described a pattern in which young men, mainly of Syrian, Pakistani and North African origin, were operating in the city’s drug scene around Nelson-Mandela-Platz and near the main railway station. They allegedly approached girls who were in care or came from difficult family backgrounds, offered them attention, gifts and eventually hard drugs such as crystal meth.
That created dependency. Drugs were then allegedly withheld unless the girls provided sexual favors or other services, with police also investigating suspected rape and other sexual assaults.
Ten individuals have been identified. A 23-year-old Syrian is in custody, while arrest warrants have been issued for a 22-year-old Syrian and a 25-year-old stateless man who fled. Charges are also being pursued against an 18-year-old Pakistani.
The case fits into a broader set of concerns: rising sexual crime in Germany since 2015, child sex abuse gangs in Vienna and grooming gang scandals in the United Kingdom. The revelations have therefore raised fears that Germany may be facing its own version of a problem long denied elsewhere.
Rising Migrant-Linked Sex Crimes Since 2015
Germany’s 2015–2016 migrant influx, which brought more than one million people largely from the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia, coincided with notable shifts in crime statistics.
Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) data show sexual offenses rising significantly in the years after the borders were opened. Rape and sexual assault cases reached 13,320 in 2024, up 9.3% from the previous year, with further increases reported into 2025.
Non-German suspects, who make up roughly 15%–16% of the population, accounted for more than a third of identified suspects in rape and sexual assault cases. In some cases, they made up as many as 39% of identified suspects.
In violent crime overall, foreigners comprised 42%–43% of suspects in recent years.
Gang rapes and group-based sexual assaults drew particular attention. In 2015, sexual assaults took place in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, where hundreds of women were groped and assaulted by groups of men, most of them of North African and Arab origin.
BKA reports and analyses indicate that foreigners, especially from certain nationalities such as Afghans and North Africans, are overrepresented in sexual offenses relative to their share of the population, sometimes by factors of 10 to 14. Even accounting for the fact that many of these groups are disproportionately male and young, the imbalance persists.
Critics argue that this demonstrates a wider cultural issue.
Britain’s Grooming Gang Scandal: A Cautionary Tale
The United Kingdom’s experience provides a stark parallel. Between 1997 and 2013 in Rotherham alone, 1,510 children were sexually exploited by so-called grooming gangs.
Most of the girls were white. Most of the abusers were of Pakistani descent.
The pattern of offending in Britain bore similarities to the abuse alleged in Nuremberg. Vulnerable girls were targeted in public spaces, groomed with gifts and attention, then introduced to alcohol or drugs to create dependence before being passed among networks for repeated rape, trafficking and abuse.
Similar rings operated in Rochdale, Oxford, Telford and other towns. Research by GB News found evidence of grooming gangs in more than 50 major urban areas.
Inquiries and official reviews, notably those led by Professor Alexis Jay and Baroness Louise Casey, exposed systemic failures. Police and social services often ignored or downplayed evidence for fear of accusations of “racism”, viewed victims as “prostitutes” or were reluctant to highlight the ethnic pattern.
Despite this, authorities remained reluctant to accept that this was a distinct form of abuse. A Home Office report into the issue in 2020 and the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse were both criticized for failing to tackle the issue properly.
A national audit followed earlier this year and led to a specific inquiry into group-based child sexual exploitation. It is expected to report back in 2029.
Survivors continue to seek accountability.
Is Germany Facing a National Issue?
The Nuremberg investigation raises serious questions. Is this a relatively isolated local case or part of a wider pattern of abuse?
In Rotherham, police thought they were dealing with isolated incidents, only to discover that the abuse was systemic. Inquiries elsewhere in the United Kingdom also showed that authorities had failed to connect related cases and underestimated what they were facing.
Rising sex crimes in Germany involving abusers of migrant origin since 2015, along with similar cases elsewhere in the German-speaking world, suggest there may be a wider problem at play.
The British experience shows that cultural issues often matter, both among abusers and within authorities unwilling to look more closely.
Germany risks repeating these failures if its authorities prioritize narrative protection over child safety. Nuremberg’s EKO Kajal is a start, but a national reckoning may be overdue.