Germany: Schleswig-Holstein officially protecting Roma and Sinti
German news server Spiegel Online reports that the state of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany has become the first in the country to incorporate protection for Romani and Sinti people into its state constitution. Members of the Romani and Sinti minorities now have the right to protection and support equivalent to that of two other minorities living in the state, the Danish and the Frisians.
Romani and Sinti people have become a newly-recognized minority in the state after almost a decade of effort. Legislatively they now occupy roughly the same position as the Sorbs living in the states of Brandenburg and Saxony in the easternmost region of the Federal Republic.
Romani people have been an officially recognized minority in Germany since 1995, but Schleswig-Holstein is the first of the country’s 16 states whose legislature has voted to transform its constitution to reflect that fact. "The Danish national minority, the German Romani and Sinti minority and the Frisian national group all have the right to protection and support," news server TÝDEN.CZ quoted from the Schleswig-Holstein constitution.
In terms of specifics, this means there are plans to create a working group to respond to the current problems of Romani and Sinti people in the state. Efforts will also be made to provide young Romani and Sinti people with more opportunities.
Romani Rose, chair of the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma, said the constitutional amendment was an historic event. He was on hand to follow the vote on the amendment in the state parliament from the public seating area.
The inclusion of Roma and Sinti into the Schleswig-Holstein constitution was also discussed last year but a legislative initiative was wrecked by the state’s governing coalition of the Christian Democrats and the Free Democratic Party (FDP). This year’s proposal was supported by the Social Democrats, the Greens, the FDP, the Pirate Party, and the Southern Schleswig Voters’ Union befre the Christian Democrats finally agreed to pass it.
