SCOTT SIMON, HOST: Immigration is a divisive issue in Europe, too. Two hundred and fifty thousand migrants have arrived in Europe this year, some legally, many not, and most in flight from war and suffering in places such as Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria. Germany alone took in 800,000 migrants last year. One hundred and eighty thousand have applied for asylum in the first half of this year. But the large numbers of immigrants has also been a drain on government services and set off protest demonstrations and several acts of vandalism and violence. So what Sven Latteyer, a bus driver in Erlangen, Germany, told a group of people seeking asylum got a lot of attention in his country this week. Mr. Latteyer is 42 and has a brother-in-law who came to Germany from Kosovo during the wars in the former Yugoslavia. Sven Latteyer reportedly used his high school English - because he was told more migrants understood English than German - to tell 15 people who just arrived and applied for asylum, I have an important message for all people from the whole world in this bus. I want to say welcome. Welcome to Germany. Welcome to my country. Have a nice day. German media say a passenger posted about that moment on Facebook and reported that the passengers got 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.
One man's small effort to ease the discomfort of desperate migrants, newly arrived in Germany after fleeing wars and oppression, inspires cheers and a few tears.