Half of Parisians Say They Feel Unsafe on Public Transit

A considerable minority of French, and a full half of Parisians, claim they do not feel safe while travelling on public transit, research that closely follows a mass stabbing attack at a Paris rail station shows.

Nearly half of the French public, 46 per cent, claim to feel unsafe while travelling on public transport across the country. Broken down into the sexes, 49 per cent of women feel unsafe compared to around 42 per cent of men.

The results come from a survey conducted by the firm CSA, which was released late last week, with the youngest age bracket surveyed, those aged between 18 and 24, seeing a majority claiming they feel unsafe while on public transportation, broadcaster CNews reports.

Feelings of safety on public transport are also radically different based on political belief, with left-wing party supporters claiming to largely feel safe on public transport, including 80 per cent of Green party supporters, who largely support public transit for climate reasons, and 78 per cent of leftist radicals overall.

On the right, meanwhile, a supporter of conservative and populist parties overwhelmingly feels unsafe, with 62 per cent of supporters of populist Marine Le Pen’s National Rally (RN) expressing such an opinion.

In the Ile-de-France region, which contains Paris and its various suburbs, 50 per cent of respondents said they felt unsafe on public transport.

The result comes just days after a stabbing attack at the Gare du Nord railway station, the busiest in France and all of Europe, that saw a migrant, possibly from Libya, stab six people while allegedly yelling “Allahu Akbar” during the attacks.

The suspect, later identified as 31-year-old Mohammed Amine M., initially told police he was from Algeria but fingerprint data revealed he has claimed at least five separate identities and has been the subject of a deportation order.

The Paris metro system has also been plagued with problems of thefts, acts of violence and sex attacks for years.

In 2019, a Pakistani migrant was arrested for sexually assaulting a female off-duty police officer aboard the RER express train in the city, while last year another migrant, from Tunisia, was arrested after trying to shove another person under a train while allegedly yelling “Allahu Akbar.”

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.