Fewer prisoners fail to return in North Rhine-Westphalia

A state government report recorded 129 cases of prisoners failing to return from leave from open prisons in North Rhine-Westphalia in 2025, against 174 in 2024. That was a decline of around 26 percent.

Of the fugitives, 28 were rearrested in 2025 and 13 turned themselves in. Unreliable prisoners can be transferred to closed prisons.