Over One in Three Young Moroccans Police Suspects

THE HAGUE - In municipalities with many Moroccan residents, an average of 38.7 percent of the Moroccan youngsters and men aged between 12 and 24 have landed up with the police one or more times. Girls are also forming a growing problem, public administration journal Binnenlands Bestuur reports.

Heading the list is Den Bosch. In this city, 47.7 percent of the 12-24 year old Moroccan youngsters and men have been crime suspects in the past five years. Next come Zeist with 47.3 percent, Gouda (46.3 percent), Veenendaal (44.9) and Amersfoort (44.6). The percentages in Maassluis, Oosterhout, Schiedam, Nijmegen, Utrecht, Ede, Leiden and Den Haag are also over 40. Crimes against property and crimes of violence predominate.

The figures come from a study by research institute Risbo of the Erasmus university in Rotterdam, commissioned by the home affairs ministry. As well as the 22 so-called Moroccan municipalities, Risbo also looked at the 22 municipalities where many Antilleans live. Nine towns are both Antillean and Moroccan municipalities. (...)