The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma welcomes the appointment of a commissioner against Antigypsyism and for the lives of Sinti and Roma in Thuringia. The state is thus implementing a key demand of the Independent Commission on Antigypsyism, which was appointed by the German government in 2019, for the Free State of Thuringia
“I would like to explicitly thank the State of Thuringia and Minister-President Bodo Ramelow for this important initiative, which is paradigmatic with regard to our minority. With the appointment of Minister of Justice Doreen Denstädt as State Commissioner against Antigypsyism, Thuringia is assuming historical responsibility in awareness of the history of the Holocaust, which also means the murder of 500,000 Sinti and Roma in Nazi-occupied Europe,” Romani Rose, the Chariman of the Central Council, said today.
“Successful work by the state commissioner against antigypsyism in Thuringia will have to be done in coordination with the federal commissioner for combating antigypsyism, Dr. Mehmet Daimagüler. Since the fight against antigypsyism must take place at both federal and state level, a commission of the federation and the states should be set up for this purpose, in which the municipal umbrella organizations should also be involved,” Rose continued.
Back in 2017, in a “Joint Declaration on the Cooperation of the State Government with the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma,” Minister-President Bodo Ramelow affirmed the will to promote the participation of Sinti and Roma living in Thuringia in all areas of cultural, social, economic and political life in implementation of the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.