Germans living in Britain have been cautioned against speaking their native language in public places after the Brexit vote set hate crimes soaring.
Speaking to the German newspaper Die Welt, lawyer Carmen Prem thought it was best to not speak “too loudly” when out and about.
“The tone has changed,” said the mother-of-two who has been living in London for 13 years. “No Briton would ever say ‘we do not want you here.’ But it is now ‘we and you.’”
She also recounted how on the bus home she had recently heard the driver tell passengers to “kindly speak English.”
In the piece, other Germans tell of “stronger xenophobia” in the country since the referendum in June.
There is a “new bitterness, an anger which hardly any of the countless non-British on the island expected,” it adds.
Race and religious crimes saw a 41 percent rise in the month after the Brexit vote. Nearly 5,500 incidents were recorded by the Home Office in July alone.
The overall hate crime rate was also up 19 percent on last year. Four out of five of the crimes reported were motivated by race hatred, seven percent by religion.
King’s College London professor Mischa Dohler told Die Welt he was now considering moving abroad.
The German academic claimed he had been offered several jobs, including an opportunity at Cambridge, but had to turn them down as he does not know what will follow the Brexit negotiations.
“Many non-British academics simply see no future here,” he said.
Abuse & insecurities
Worries among German citizens come after a Spanish man was knocked down by a passerby with a wooden plank in Bournemouth earlier this month.
The man was reportedly speaking to his girlfriend in his native language when the thug approached him shouting “f***ing Spanish, speak in English” before hitting him with a piece of wood grabbed from a nearby building.
READ MORE: French nationals suffer post-Brexit abuse, claims ambassador
The French were also reportedly reconsidering their future in Britain after being subjected to “negative or aggressive language” following the UK’s decision to leave the European Union. Up to 300,000 French nationals are currently registered as living in the country.