Train Conductors in Thuringia, Germany, have been given permission to stop checking the tickets of migrant passengers in an effort to prevent them from becoming violent. The South Thuringian Railway implemented the policy in Spring after seeing a rise in aggressive behavior toward staff.
After noticing an uptick in threatening situations involving “newcomers” and train conductors, a letter was issued to Thuringian Prime Minister Bodo Ramelow explaining that the railway had begun to notice that migrant passengers would board trains without tickets and would threaten staff if asked for proof of payment.
“State and federal politics repeatedly talk about ‘integration’ and tolerance of/towards migrants/refugee,” read an excerpt from Ramelow’s letter. “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?”
In addition to spewing insults at the employees, newcomers issued threats and, in some cases, spit on them.
The policy was first made public after a couple aboard Regional Train 44 from Arnstadt Süd to Erfurt witnessed a staff member skipping migrants during ticket checks and, feeling upset by this, inquired about the situation with the railway.
Although a spokesperson for the province’s railway initially denied that train attendants were only checking the tickets of native German passengers, attempting to claim that the foreigner’s tickets were likely verified at a different point on their journey, it later admitted that employees could avoid asking migrants to show their tickets at their own discretion.
“Only in difficult situations can our employees decide for themselves how to proceed in order to de-escalate,” said a spokesperson for the railway. “The railway company considers it presumptuous to conclude from a one-off observation that foreign passengers on the Erfurt-Suhl-Meiningen railway line are generally not checked.”
In June, the Thuringian Ministry of Infrastructure also allocated just over $375,000 USD to increase security at train stations after consulting the Federal Police and provincial railways, Süd-Thüringen-Bahn and DB Regio.
Notably, Germany is not the only nation whose transit system has been disturbed by foreigners. As previously reported by Remix, France has similarly seen an uptick in crime on public transit since allowing migrants into the country.
According to annual figures by The Ministry of Interior in France, nearly 70% of all violent crimes and robberies, including sexual assault, that occurred on public transit in Paris were committed by migrants, with Africans accounting for over 50% of crimes despite representing under 4% of the population of France.
