{"id":84,"date":"2016-03-14T17:31:17","date_gmt":"2016-03-14T17:31:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zentralrat.sintiundroma.de\/en\/?page_id=84"},"modified":"2018-03-22T14:24:53","modified_gmt":"2018-03-22T14:24:53","slug":"minority-rights","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/zentralrat.sintiundroma.de\/en\/work-areas\/minority-rights\/","title":{"rendered":"Minority rights"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minority rights<\/h1>\n
\"\"
Protest march against exclusion and forced eviction of Roma in Cluj \/ Romania, Juli 2015 \u00a9 Fotis Filippou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Central Council advocates the support and protection of the German Sinti and Roma as a national minority. There are four long established national minorities in Germany: the German Sinti and Roma, the Danish minority, the Frisian ethnic group, and the Sorbian people. On 11 May 1995, the Federal Republic of Germany legally recognised the German Sinti and Roma as a national minority by signing the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe. The result of the civil rights work of the Sinti and Roma, it was an important success for the Central Council and its state associations.<\/p>\n

In addition to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities serves as the guideline for the implementation of minority protection in Germany. By signing the Framework Convention, the federal government undertook \u201cto promote the conditions necessary for persons belonging to national minorities to maintain and develop their culture, and to preserve the essential elements of their identity, namely their religion, language, traditions and cultural heritage.\u201d At the same time, the Framework Convention prohibits any discrimination against anyone belonging to a national minority, and aims to protect the existence of national minorities within the respective territories of the State Parties by taking appropriate measures.<\/p>\n

As part of its work on minority rights, the Central Council calls on the federal and state governments to take the German Sinti and Roma into account when implementing the obligations arising from the international agreements. The Central Council represents the interests of the minority vis-\u00e0-vis national and international political institutions and committees. It also participates in legislative initiatives of the Federal Parliament that are relevant to minority policy. At the state level, the Central Council advocates the conclusion of contractual arrangements (“state treaties”) between its state associations and states governments, which would implement the protection of minorities in line with the Framework Convention.<\/p>\n

Current demands of the Central Council regarding the protection of minorities<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\n\n\t\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tGermany-wide regulation concerning the protection and preservation of graves belonging to the victims of Nazi persecution<\/strong>\t\t\t<\/h3>\n\t\t\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\n

Families of the German Sinti and Roma are increasingly faced with the problem that the graves of their relatives – including the graves of deceased Holocaust survivors – are due to be removed within a certain period of time, in accordance with standard cemetery regulations. In other cases, people are asked to pay renewal feels they cannot afford; or, there are no immediate relatives left who can take care of the graves.<\/p>\n

Preserving these graves as protected memorial sites is very important for Sinti and Roma families, because most of their family members who were murdered under the National Socialist Regime have no graves. Often, the tombs are designed in a special way and many are designed to evoke the memories of relatives who had perished in concentration camps. Furthermore, the graves are places of historic importance that could be places of learning about history \u2013 particularly where epitaphs and tombstones allude to the fate of those buried there. This is another important reason for preserving these graves. And, of course, doing so is also in the interests of the general public.
\nTherefore, the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma and its state associations call on the federal and state governments to preserve the graves of the Sinti and Roma persecuted under National Socialism as family memorial sites. Many of the graves in question have been preserved as permanent graves or graves of honour, or have been put under monument protection. The federal states of Hamburg and Bavaria have introduced interim arrangements at state level in order to preserve graves; according to these arrangements, the state and federal governments will bear the costs incurred. In other recent cases where burial rights have expired, the cemeteries often chose to defer the decisions about fees and grave preservation because of negotiations with the federal and state governments.<\/p>\n

On 8 December 2016, during the Conference of Minister-Presidents in Berlin, the Federal Government and the state governments adopted a resolution on the preservation of graves of the Sinti and Roma persecuted under National Socialist tyranny. The federal and state governments will each cover 50% of the costs of the graves belonging to Sinti and Roma persecuted by the Nazis. This decision meets the longstanding wishes of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, which has called on the federal government, the state governments, and the local authorities since 2004 to take care of these graves and to preserve them as family memorial sites and public places of learning. The regulation is to come into effect in 2017, with its details still being finalised by the Federal and State Working-Group (headed by the Federal Ministry of Family Affairs) and the leading municipal associations of Germany.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Documentary report “Long-term Preservation of the Graves of Sinti and Roma Persecuted by the Nazis” publishes by the Central Council.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In May 2016, the Central Council published the documentary report “Long-term Preservation of the Graves of Sinti and Roma Persecuted by the Nazis”. The report can be ordered from our Heidelberg office or it can be downloaded here<\/a> (available only in German).<\/p>\n

Preservation of graves in the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

In 2011, the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg became the first state to implement a regulation for the preservation of the graves of Sinti and Roma persecuted by Nazis, which also includes offering to pay the costs incurred. According to this regulation, people who take care of the graves that are due to be removed in the near future can contact the Restitution Office of the Hamburg Authority for Employment, Health, Social Affairs and Integration (BAGSI). The Restitution Office will then verify the status of persecution in each individual case. If the grave belongs to a person persecuted by the Nazis, the Office will contact the Geschwister-Scholl-Foundation with a request for reimbursement of the (grave renewal) fees. This scheme is an interim solution until there is a Germany-wide regulation concerning the preservation of graves.<\/p>\n

Preservation of graves in the Free State of Bavaria<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

On the initiative of Minister President Horst Seehofer, the Bavarian state government adopted on 11 March 2016 an exemplary regulation for the preservation of graves in Bavaria. The state parliament decided to include the funding for the graves of Sinti and Roma persecuted by the Nazis in the supplementary budget for the year 2016. The implementation is carried out by the Bavarian memorial foundation \u201cStiftung Bayerische Gedenkst\u00e4tten\u201d in close cooperation with our state association in Bavaria. Persons who take care of the graves can contact our state association in Nuremberg for help with the costs incurred by extending the burial rights, if:<\/p>\n