German train conductors in the state of Thuringia have been given permission not to check the tickets of foreign passengers after an increase in threatening behavior from asylum seekers towards staff.
The Thüringer Allgemeine reported on Sunday that railway staff had been informed to do all they can to de-escalate troublesome travelers, even if that meant effectively giving them a free pass on their commute.
The German newspaper had been contacted by a married couple who had recently traveled on a Süd-Thüringen-Bahn train and noticed that those they assumed to be foreigners were not having their tickets checked while German commuters were still scrutinized.
Upon contacting the railway service provider, a spokesperson denied the allegation and claimed that tickets had probably been checked before the couple had boarded the train.
However, upon further questioning, the rail company did concede that conductors had discretion to not demand to see valid tickets to ride should they consider the situation is at risk of escalation and they feel threatened or intimidated.
The same railway company recently made headlines when its works council complained in a letter to Thurinigia’s left-wing Minister-President Bodo Ramelow about the behavior of foreigners on public transport.
An excerpt from the letter read:
State and federal politics repeatedly talk about “integration” and tolerance of/towards migrants/refugees. We ask you seriously, how can you expect citizens of this country to be open to the refugee policy being practiced when they have to witness – practically every day, and not just on public transport! – such violence, brutality, and absolute contempt and mockery of our laws and society, including its so-called “values”?
The demise of civilized travel is not only reserved for Germany. In neighboring France, crime on public transport has sky-rocketed in recent times, coinciding with a dramatic uptick in the number of suspects from a migration background.
Annual figures provided by the French interior ministry’s statistics bureau, the SSMSI, in September last year revealed that 69 percent of violent robberies and other violent crimes, including sexual assaults, on public transport in the greater Paris region of Île-de-France were perpetrated by foreign nationals.
A closer look at the data showed Africans alone were responsible for 52 percent of such crimes while only representing 3.2 percent of the population of France.
Across the whole of France, 55 percent of suspects pertaining to offenses on public transport are foreign nationals, the data indicated.
In light of the ongoing concerns regarding safety on public transport, German train conductors have been instructed to prioritize de-escalation over strict ticket enforcement for foreign passengers. This policy change has emerged amidst rising incidents of violence linked to asylum seekers, compelling railway authorities to reassess their approach to fare checks. The situation reflects a larger trend observed in neighboring France, where crime statistics reveal a significant proportion of violent crimes on public transport are attributed to foreign nationals, intensifying the scrutiny of migration policies and their societal impacts.
