In 2023, a group of teenagers between 15 and 17 plotted to attack a Christmas market in Leverkusen (North Rhine-Westphalia). In an online chat, two supporters of “Islamic State” (IS), considered a terrorist organization by German domestic intelligence, plotted to kill as many people as possible by driving a truck into a crowd of revelers. Two days before the planned attack, the teenagers were arrested after their online chats were discovered. The minors were sentenced to four years in prison in 2024.
Such cases are increasing the concern of German security officials. The Federal Criminal Police (BKA) has been recording an increase in violent crime for years. The number of juvenile suspects under the age of 18 has increased by nearly one-third since 2019, and the number of suspects under the age of 14 has increased by two-thirds over the same period.
In its latest Police Crime Statistics (PKS) report, the BKA notes some possible reasons for this growth: “There are signs that psychological stress among children and adolescents has been increasing for several years. While psychological stress is not a direct cause of criminal behavior, in combination with other adverse factors, it can increase the likelihood of committing (violent) crimes.”
Such “adverse factors” include violence within the family, lack of parental affection, poverty and anxiety generated by multiple crises such as war, climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic.
Radicalized through TikTok and Telegram
The BKA considers minors who have fled their country to be particularly vulnerable. The background of the youth planning the attack in Leverkusen was Afghan and Chechen. The BKA report states that many lonely young immigrants look online for guidance and answers to their questions, noting that they are often led to the websites of religious or political extremists.
“In recent years, it has been observed that right-wing extremist violent crimes are often preceded by online radicalization,” said a 2024 report by Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. This goes beyond promotional consumption on platforms like Instagram and TikTok, but includes international networking with like-minded individuals on online channels like Telegram or Discord.
The political left and enemies of the LGBTQ+ community
The report cites as an example the group “Jung & Stark” (Young and Strong), which gained notoriety through their Instagram account in 2024. “This right-wing extremist group, distinct from existing regional and national right-wing extremist scenes, marks the entry point into right-wing extremism for many youth, some of whom are minors,” the report said.
JS members are said to use ideological pieces to target “enemies” such as leftist “Antifa” and the LGBTQ+ movement.
based in berlin Violence Prevention Network (VPN) Working with children, teens and young adults for over 20 years. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are also an important partner for security authorities in developing deradicalization programs.
Feride Aktas, of a VPN that focuses on religiously motivated extremism, says it is becoming increasingly difficult to root out radicalized children and teens beyond the confines of their virtual echo chambers.
She is a critic of political and social discourse in Germany today. “We’ve reached a point where we’ve become so distant from each other that we first need to be able to communicate again,” she says. Aktas says it’s important to avoid immediately upsetting young people when they make questionable statements, but suggests addressing the underlying feelings instead.
Thomas Mucke, managing director of VPN, agrees that communication with children and young people is important. He considers it essential to interact with and among youth in a safe environment.
He recalls workshops held in schools where emotionally stressful situations escalated rapidly. “They could say things to each other that adults would find difficult,” Mucke recalls. But then it provides a starting point for discussion and allows them to open up to other viewpoints. “If we lose this ability to communicate, the extremists have won,” Mucke concluded.
When family and school fail
Aktas also points out that the impact of the Covid pandemic is still being felt today. Many youth told him that there was no one there for them during that time – neither at home nor at school. Aktas found that such girls and boys later feel lonely even while living in a group. “And then they find connections elsewhere that can pull them into right-wing extremism or Islamic extremism in different ways,” Aktas says.
Mucke also points to the fundamental problem that many parents fail to recognize the danger of imminent radicalization of their children. He urged parents to contact counseling centers if they have any doubts. “We look at the situation very closely and immediately get involved in discussions with parents,” Mucke says.
‘High risk individuals’ and IS returned from Syria
Over the past ten years, VPN has worked on 431 cases of youth who posed a danger to themselves and others. According to Mucke, 75 of them were “high-risk individuals” who pose a particularly high threat to public safety. Sixty-five of them had returned from Syria, where they had joined the “Islamic State” (IS).
Mucke measures the success of his work by recidivism rates – the percentage of youth he has worked with who are rearrested, convicted, or returned to prison after being released from a previous conviction. And so far the signs are encouraging: Of the 431 boys and girls his organization has worked with, only two have had a relapse.
This article was originally written in German.
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