Train conductors in the German state of Thuringia have been given the green light to not have to check foreign passengers’ tickets. The reason is to try to avoid violence after threatening behavior from asylum seekers increased towards the staff.

According to German media, railway staff have been informed to do everything they can to de-escalate threatening situations with passengers. The newspaper Thüringer Allgemeine reports on a couple who recently traveled with Süd-Thüringen-Bahn and noted that what they assumed were foreigners were not required to have their tickets checked, while Germans were.

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When the newspaper contacted the company, a spokesperson denied the accusation and claimed that the tickets had probably been checked before the couple boarded the train.

Further investigations revealed that conductors have been given the right not to check tickets if they assess that the situation is at risk of escalating and they feel threatened or frightened.

Contempt and scorn for laws

The same railway company recently made headlines when its works council complained in a letter to the state’s Minister President Bodo Ramelow, belonging to the left-wing party Die Linke, about the behavior of foreigners in public transport.

An excerpt from the letter:

State and federal politics often talk about ”integration” and tolerance for/of 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 must witness – practically every day, and not just in public transport! – such violence, brutality, and absolute contempt and scorn for our laws and society, including its so-called ”values”?

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