The German State of Thuringia has decided not to renew the position of an Antiziganism Commissioner in the state. Rational behind this decision, is that the “broad-based strategy” of “integration policy for all people” does not require a dedicated representative for Sinti and Roma.
Well, this decision is being criticised, with right.
A chilling report on a German researcher in Auschwitz.
The Thuringian state government will not reappoint the position of antigypsyism commissioner. As a spokesperson for the Ministry of Justice told MDR Thuringia, the state government views the integration of Sinti and Roma as a cross-departmental task. All ministries—including education, labor, health, and housing—are responsible for ensuring equal access.
This is not going to help …
A Berlin hotel housing Sinti and Roma has been a crime hotspot for years. Now, the spokesperson for the Berlin Police Union (GdP), Benjamin Jendro, has advocated for revoking Schengen travel rights for criminal EU foreigners. “We need to talk about perhaps not necessarily creating incentives for these people to come here,” Jendro told “Welt TV.” “We’re talking about criminal offenses. People are deliberately sent to steal. We’re talking about disturbances of the peace, physical assault, and threats.”
Bad.
The Gera Regional Court will not open a trial against controversial administrative judge Bengt Fuchs. The public prosecutor’s office had accused him of incitement to hatred.
In August 2019, Fuchs allegedly wrote a comment under a Facebook post in a student fraternity group that was deemed incitement to hatred. Fuchs allegedly equated the Sinti and Roma ethnic groups with traveling gangs of thieves. In the group, the user “Bengt-Christian Fuchs” had described the group as “rotational Europeans with a weakness in property attribution.”
If this is not racist, what is?
Antiziganism Reporting and Information Center in Germany (MIA), has documented the nature and scale of antiziganism in the country in its latest annual report.
The report recorded 1,678 antiziganism cases in 2024, ranging from verbal abuse to assaults — a significant increase on the 621 reported in its first edition, published for the year 2022.
Bad.
It is now official: Germany’s Federal Cabinet has appointed Michael Brand as the Federal Government Commissioner against Antiziganism and for the Life of Sinti and Roma.
The Department of History at Heidelberg University (Center for European History and Cultural Studies) is offering a research fellowship (“Romani Rose Fellowship”) at the Research Center on Antiziganism with an annual grant of EUR 20,000.00. The fellowship begins on January 1, 2026 (doctoral fellowship) or, depending on the researcher, between January 1 and May 1, 2026 (postdoctoral fellowship).
Michael Brand, a CDU politician, will become Commissioner Against Antigypsyism. Until very recently, it was feared that the new German government would abolish the office of Commissioner Against Antigypsyism. It seems that the deal is now done, and Brand will replace Mehmet Daimagueler.
The German government is effectively abolishing the position of Commissioner for Combating Antigypsyism. The position will not be filled, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Family Affairs told taz. Mehmet Daimagüler, who held the position until a few weeks ago, told taz: “Abolishing the office would be a slap in the face for the Sinti and Roma in Germany.”
Roma and Sinti children are facing discrimination in German schools.
The Roma organisation ARCA placed an open call for young activists, youth leaders, historians and researchers aged 18 to 35 to apply for their Summer School on Roma History entitled “Remembering Together”, which will take place in Berlin from June 10 to 15, 2025!
A commemoration was held in Magdeburg on the 82nd anniversary of the deportation of Sinti and Roma to Auschwitz.
On March 11th, in Berlin, Café Kyiv will be held in the Colloseum in Berlin. This years’ Roima program will also include a panel discussion “Roma in Ukraine: Fighters for Democracy, Justice & Diversity”.
https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=958951459681471&set=pcb.958951573014793
In the last ZDF political talk show “Markus Lanz” on February 25, 2025, one of the topics discussed was how the AfD managed to win the constituency in Gelsenkirchen (In the Ruhr). The Moderator and journalist Markus Lanz quickly found a clear answer: He talked about how many problems foreigners cause locally: the young Sinti and Roma are criminals, drop out of school, many of them are unemployed. Completely generalizing and ignoring the fact that structural problems like these are very closely linked to racism and discrimination, Lanz reproduces racist language towards a group that is already exposed to discrimination almost unnoticed to this day.
In Neumünster, the shop windows of the Sinti Union Schleswig-Holstein office were smeared with a swastika and other nazi symbols. This happened, according to Kelly Laubinger, the managing director of the office during the night to Saturday.
Well, reminder: Tomorrow there are elections in Germany and the AfD candidate once stated that Roma and Sinti are alien to Germany… Does it remind you of anything?
Together with descendants of Erna Lauenburger, Margitta and Manolito Steinbach from the Menda Yek e.V. association and the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe Foundation as well as the Documentation and Cultural Center of German Sinti and Roma, the Berlin City Museum has expanded the BERLIN GLOBAL exhibition to include the biography of Erna Lauenburger.
Roma who fled from Ukraine to Germany and the European Union after the Russian attack want to network better. In Göttingen, Roma representatives living in exile founded the association “Ukrainian Roma Advocacy Alliance” (Aura) on Tuesday. “Many Ukrainian Roma abroad do not even know what kind of help is available here,” said Aura board member Janush Panchenko. “We want to inform people about these offers and also advocate for the interests of the Ukrainian Roma in our host countries.” Projects in the areas of political education, culture, humanitarian and legal aid are also planned. In Germany, the association wants to work closely with the Society for Threatened Peoples, among others.
Five years ago, on February 19th 2020, a gunman with far-right views killed 9 people in Hanau, Germany. There were Roma among them.
In view of the upcoming elections where the AfD candidate once said that immigrants and Roma have no place in Germany, one should maybe remember to what this leads.
An interview of Romani Rose, chairman of the Council of German Sinti and Roma. He is worried about the AfD and the new antigypsyism, which he says, is now socially acceptable.
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