131 German Citizens Were Banned From Travelling Between 2018 and 2022
According to data from the Interior Ministry, three people were banned from travelling abroad in 2018, to further increase to 15 in 2019, 33 in 2020 and 14 in 2021, and peaking at 66 in the previous year, AtoZSerwisPlus.com reports.
The Ministry couldn’t offer a clear explanation for the fact that the total number of German citizens that weren’t able to travel since 2018 has increased to 131, but the information was received by the police’s information system, in addition to Interpol and the Schengen Area.
This arbitrary ban applies to left-wing activists and Kurd nationals on a larger scale compared to other demographic groups.
Solin G, an 18-year-old Kurdish girl was stopped at the airport and told she would participate in PKK demonstrations in Istanbul and had her passport confiscated by the police. She brought the ban to the court and also won the legal battle in the administrative court in Dusseldorf last December. The court found the police’s action illegal and decided to give the subject her passport back.
On the other hand, Germany has experienced a significant increase in visitors from other countries in 2022, especially those coming from Gulf countries, including Bahrain, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The German National Tourist Board (GNTB) reveals that overnight stays realised by the nationals from Gulf countries have increased by 180 per cent in the first three quarters of this year, compared to the previous year.
“Our goal at the moment is to continue to attract visitors from the region and aim to reach the numbers we welcomed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. We have seen a striking performance this year when compared to 2021, demonstrating that our diverse campaigns and offerings are attractive, and effectively reaching the audience,” the German National Tourist Office, the regional office of GNTB, Yamina Sofo, said.
According to figures by the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis), a 2.7 per cent increase in the number of overnight stays has been recorded in Germany in October alone, but the full recovery of pre-pandemic levels has yet to be met. In addition, 17.5 million overnight stays were recorded in German establishments in December 2021 – significantly higher compared to the corresponding time in 2020.
