海角大神

As Europe struggles to deal with an unprecedented number of immigrants crossing the Mediterranean, a German bus driver offered an unexpectedly warm welcome to asylum seekers on his bus.

Sven Latteyer showed compassion on the 15 young foreigners 鈥� some from Africa 鈥� who boarded his bus in Erlangen in Bavaria, when he announced over a loudspeaker in English,

鈥淓xcuse me, ladies and gentlemen, from all over the world in this bus 鈥� I want to say something. I want to say welcome. Welcome to Germany, welcome to my country. Have a nice day.鈥�

鈥淭he speech was greeted with stunned looks followed by laughter and applause, "including from the Germans," one passenger said. "One of the African lads wiped a tear from his eye,"聽the BBC reports.

As the story spread, the bus driver's welcome was applauded on Twitter too.聽

Mr. Latteyer, 42, told 聽the local Nuernberger Nachrichten paper, that he felt moved to make the speech by the experience of his brother-in-law from Kosovo, who fled the Balkan crisis in the 1990s to make a better life in Germany, and his grandfather, who was wounded in World War II.

Germany is grappling with a record number of refugees. This year, the government says it expects 400,000 asylum applications by the end of 2015 鈥� more than double the amount it received in 2014.聽According to Reuters, the figure includes economic refugees from the Balkans as well as migrants fleeing conflict in Africa and the Middle East.

Recently 海角大神 reported聽that Germany needs the immigrants:

In the wake of Germany's refugee crisis, and cases of far-right wing sentiments, however, many Germans continue to display a different spirit. For instance in the border town of Bavaria, Mayor Martin Birner has been trying to build bridges between his constituents and those seeking a haven from war.

The Monitor reported last month, 鈥淪ince April, the town and surrounding area have taken in some 170 asylum seekers, from countries including Ukraine, Iraq, Albania, and Syria. It wasn't an idea that was immediately popular with residents, but Mr. Birner worked to convince them that they should welcome, instead of fear, refugees fleeing from violence and repression.鈥�

According to the latest data, Germany admits far more immigrants than any other country. In 2014, Germany received six times the number of asylum seeker applicants than Britain, and twice as many as any other country in Europe, the聽Guardian reported.