Social media and Germany, which took in almost 40% of all the first-time asylum seekers arriving in Europe in 2014, are praising a German bus driver, Sven Latteyer, who welcomed about 15 young foreign guests on board with a moving speech.
“Excuse me ladies and gentlemen from all over the world on this bus, I want to say something: I want to say welcome. Welcome to Germany, welcome to my country. Have a nice day!” he said in English.
All the passengers on board the bus in Erlangen applauded loudly, with one decided to post about Latteyer’s gesture on Facebook where it quickly went viral. The passenger said that the speech was greeted with “incredulous looks, then all laughing and clapping, the whole bus, including the Germans” and “one of the African boys wiped a little tear from his eyes“.
Wonderful show of humanity by German bus driver 2 a group of emigrants http://t.co/xVLXxxFWse
— Cary Cooper (@ProfCaryCooper) August 15, 2015
German TV news host @ClausKleber fights back tears narrating story about bus driver giving refugees a warm welcome http://t.co/CaOyx7NwiH
— Deborah Cole (@doberah) August 13, 2015
Ein Hoch auf unsern Busfahrer, Busfahrer, Busfahrer… http://t.co/MFPxjdGG4v
— Giovanni Jaerisch (@GJaerisch) August 12, 2015
Neulich sagte ich noch, hier grüßt keiner “Welcome to Germany!” Gut, dass ich mich geirrt habe:) http://t.co/5V7ULebGUI#refugeesarewelcome
— Catie Hoffmann (@DrSmirk) August 12, 2015
Latteyer told nordbayern.de, his Kosovan brother-in-law , who had fled from the Kosovo war and found a new home in Germany, and his grandfather, who lost his arm in World War II, inspired him to make the speech.
The number of people seeking asylum in European countries has increased substantially, with most coming from places such as Syria, Afghanistan and Eritrea, and since Latteyer is convinced war is “horrific”, anyone fleeing it should be given refuge in Germany.
Germany has received almost 180,000 applications for asylum in the first half of 2015 – twice the number it had received during the same period last year. With increase in the number of migrants, there is surge in attacks on their accommodation, including vandalism and arson by far right groups.
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