GERMAN TEXT FOLLOWED BY ENGLISH TEXT!
Derzeit kursiert eine wüste Geschichte in Israelischen, Jüdischen und Sozialen Medien. Die Anschuldigung: Die Polizei am Frankfurter Flughafen würde offensichtlich Jüdisch aussehende Reisende / Charedim grundlos festhalten / inhaftieren und sie unwürdig behandeln. Man würde sie „einsperren“, ihnen keine Gründe für die Unterbrechung ihrer Reise mitteilen; man würde ihnen Lebensmittel verweigern und einiges mehr.
Diese schrecklichen Schilderungen, die u.a. auch von The Jewish Voice, WorldIsraelNews und Arutz7 aufgegriffen wurden, waren Grund für uns nachzuforschen, was hier tatsächlich vorgefallen ist und wie die Bundespolizei zu den Vorwürfen steht.
Hier eine Kurzzusammenfassung der offiziellen Stellungnahme der Bundespolizei, die nachfolgend auf Englisch folgt: Es handelte sich um 2 Gruppen aus den USA mit Weiterreise nach Wien bzw. Ungarn. Aufgrund der Coronabeschränkungen musste erst die Weiterreise mit den österreichischen bzw. ungarischen Behörden geklärt werden, da aufgrund der Einstufung der USA als Risikogebiet eine EU-Einreise nur aus gewichtigen Gründen möglich war. Dies hat einige Stunden in Anspruch genommen. Die Betroffenen waren nicht „eingesperrt“, sondern im Aufenthaltsbereich der Bundespolizei und konnten jederzeit in den Transitbereich gehen. Essen und Trinken wurde von der Bundespolizei angeboten.
Hier das offizielle Statement auf English:
„The German Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport is responsible for carrying out border police entry and exit controls on all flights from non-Schengen countries, such as for arrivals from New York and Newark. The Federal Police are also responsible for checking the current entry requirements regarding existing travel restrictions in connection with the Corona pandemic. For nationals from non-Schengen countries, including US Americans, entry into the Schengen area (which includes Germany) is currently only possible in justified exceptional cases.
On March 8, a total of 15 US citizens arriving on flights from New York at around 7 a.m. and Newark at around 10 a.m. also presented themselves to the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport for border entry control. There were two tour groups.
The first group, comprising ten people, said they wanted to continue traveling to Hungary for an Orthodox ceremony. Possible, specified exceptions to the current entry restrictions must be regularly checked in detail by the Federal Police. In certain cases, this also includes contacting the responsible authorities in neighboring countries. Therefore, an attempt was made to contact the Hungarian authorities. After completing the necessary checks, the onward journey was permitted around 1:30 p.m.
The second group, comprising five people, said they wanted to travel to Vienna for an important funeral-related business meeting. Initially, no exceptions could be established in connection with the entry restrictions. A request to the Austrian authorities also revealed that there were no business reasons and that entry should not be approved. Following further consultations with the party who invited the group and a credible verification of reasons for the trip, the Austrian authorities lifted the travel entry restriction. Thus, the Federal Police were able to allow this group to continue their journey at 1:30 p.m.
As with all cases requiring in-depth checking, these 15 people were offered food by the Federal Police during the waiting time. They accepted the food and were also provided with drinks several times. The possibility to purchase food was not allowed. The groups of people were at no time in police custody – rather they stayed in a regular waiting area of the Federal police during the checking. The doors of the premises were always open to the transit area of the airport.
All measures taken by the Federal Police in connection with these two groups were conducted professionally, respectfully and without delay. Translators also facilitated communication in English for asking questions and explaining the procedures and entry requirements.
“We resolutely reject any charges of discriminatory treatment.““
In diesem Zusammenhang sollte auch darauf hingewiesen werden, dass es leider (nahezu) täglich zu Zwischenfällen kommt, bei denen Reisende aufgehalten und an der Weiterreise aus den geschilderten Gründen, oder weil sie sie an andere Auflagen in Zusammenhang mit den Corona Hygienebestimmungen nicht halten wollen, gehindert werden. Hierbei kommt es leider immer wieder zu unwürdigen Szenen. Als Organisation, die sich für Wahrhaftigkeit einsetzt, ist es uns wichtig, dass die Hintergründe in solchen Fällen möglichst akkurat wiedergegeben werden und dass man besonders genau recherchiert, bevor ggf. von Diskriminierung oder Antisemitismus gesprochen wird.
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Currently a very worrying story is circulating on Israeli, Jewish and social media. The accusation: The police at Frankfurt Airport is discriminating against / detaining obviously looking Jewish-looking travelers / Charedim for no reason and treating them most inappropirately. Travelers were supposedly „locked up“ for no reason, not given any explanation for the interruption of their journey; denied food and much more (see VIDEO).
These terrible accounts, which were also picked up by The Jewish Voice, WorldIsraelNews and Arutz7 , among others, were reason for us to investigate what actually happened here and what the federal police is saying about the allegations. Here their official statement (in English):
Here the official Statement in English:
„The German Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport is responsible for carrying out border police entry and exit controls on all flights from non-Schengen countries, such as for arrivals from New York and Newark. The Federal Police are also responsible for checking the current entry requirements regarding existing travel restrictions in connection with the Corona pandemic. For nationals from non-Schengen countries, including US Americans, entry into the Schengen area (which includes Germany) is currently only possible in justified exceptional cases.
On March 8, a total of 15 US citizens arriving on flights from New York at around 7 a.m. and Newark at around 10 a.m. also presented themselves to the Federal Police at Frankfurt Airport for border entry control. There were two tour groups.
The first group, comprising ten people, said they wanted to continue traveling to Hungary for an Orthodox ceremony. Possible, specified exceptions to the current entry restrictions must be regularly checked in detail by the Federal Police. In certain cases, this also includes contacting the responsible authorities in neighboring countries. Therefore, an attempt was made to contact the Hungarian authorities. After completing the necessary checks, the onward journey was permitted around 1:30 p.m.
The second group, comprising five people, said they wanted to travel to Vienna for an important funeral-related business meeting. Initially, no exceptions could be established in connection with the entry restrictions. A request to the Austrian authorities also revealed that there were no business reasons and that entry should not be approved. Following further consultations with the party who invited the group and a credible verification of reasons for the trip, the Austrian authorities lifted the travel entry restriction. Thus, the Federal Police were able to allow this group to continue their journey at 1:30 p.m.
As with all cases requiring in-depth checking, these 15 people were offered food by the Federal Police during the waiting time. They accepted the food and were also provided with drinks several times. The possibility to purchase food was not allowed. The groups of people were at no time in police custody – rather they stayed in a regular waiting area of the Federal police during the checking. The doors of the premises were always open to the transit area of the airport.
All measures taken by the Federal Police in connection with these two groups were conducted professionally, respectfully and without delay. Translators also facilitated communication in English for asking questions and explaining the procedures and entry requirements.
“We resolutely reject any charges of discriminatory treatment.““
In this context, it should also be pointed out, that there are unfortunately (almost) daily incidents in which travelers are forced to pause or even stop their journeys for reasons cited above, or because there are complications with their compliance with other requirements in connection with the Corona hygiene regulations. In this regard, there are, unfortunately, frequently unworthy scenes. As an organization that advocates truthfulness, it is important for us that the background of such stories is researched as accurately as possible and that circumstances are carefully weighed before publication and even more so before talking about discrimination or anti-Semitism.
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