Germany: TV discussion Sinti and Roma a concept of enemy: are we too intolerant?

58 Percent say that they do not want Sinti and Roma as neighbors. Where do
those prejudices come from? Are the Germans to intolerant? There is an increase
in incoming Sinti and Roma from new and future European states. It is without
controversy that in their countries the Sinti and Roma live under horrible
conditions and in penury. But the public fight started, not just in politics, if
Germany can and should accommodate them. This public interest was the reason why
they brought up the topic “Sinti and Roma a concept of enemy: are we too
intolerant?” in the TV discussion round “Menschen bei Maischberger” on the 20th
of November in 2012.

Part of this discussion was Romani Rose, chairman of the central council of
the German Sinti and Roma, Claudia Roth, chairwoman of the German green party
(B’90/ Grüne), Joachim Hermann, from the conservative party CSU and he is also
the minister of interior in Bavaria, Philipp Gut, a Swiss journalist, Nizaqete
Bislimi, she is Roma and came to Germany when she was fourteen, now she is a
lawyer, and later also Damir Kovani joined the discussion, he applied for asylum
in Germany.

Mr Rose stressed that Sinti and Roma are living in Germany and as Germans
since 600 years. They identify themselves with their country, Germany, and they
do not expect tolerance but respect because they are equal members of the
society and citizens in this country. Furthermore he points out that the German
government just recently dedicated the Memorial to Roma Nazi Holocaust victims
in the heart of Berlin. The position of this memorial shows its importance, and
honors the victims. He argues that the purpose of this memorial is not to
transfer the guiltiness to the Grandchildren-Generation, but it points out our
responsibility to protect the democracy and the rule of law. He says that this
is important to acknowledge by discussing this topic, because the rule of law
means that everyone is just in charge of their own actions and behavior and not
for the group that they belong to.

Controversial article in the Swiss newspaper "Weltwoche"

This was an allusion to the article, which was written by Philipp Gut, “The
Roma are coming: raids in Switzerland” which was published in the Swiss
newspaper “Weltwoche”. This article was heavily criticized and others even
pressed charges against it, one of them was Romani Rose. He explained that this
article is racist, as it makes criminality a matter of origin. Mr. Rose goes on
and says that “Nobody in this country, as a matter of the German history, would
even think of accusing someone who is affiliated to the Jewish religion, and to
write in the Media about that he is a Jew. These days are over”.

Philipp Gut defended himself by pointing out that his article is based on
facts. He explains that he explicitly wrote about criminal Tourism, so this does
not include the, approximately 50.000, Roma which are living in Switzerland. It
is about the Roma that come to Switzerland as tourists with the goal to burgle
houses. They mainly use the children and train them for the burglaries.

But Mr. Gut’s article was not just criticized because of his content but also
because of the very controversial picture that he chose for this article. The
picture shows a small boy who points with a toy gun at the camera. This boy
lives in the Kosovo and has never left the country. He was just playing. Mr. Gut
highlights that this picture is fitting perfectly for the article, as it
symbolizes the grievance about which the article is about. This grievance is, as
he explains, that it is very popular in Roma clans to abuse children for
criminal actions.

Claudia Roth heavily criticized this picture and said “You should apologize
to the boy, who is a lot older now, and to his family because with this headline
you suggest that he is a criminal. […] This is unethical journalism. […] You
[Philipp Gut] agitate, with this powerful picture, against Roma and you incite
prejudices and promote discrimination”.

Increase of asylum applications

Joachim Hermann was changing the topic, and it is not really a less
controversial one, to the increased number of asylum-seekers from Serbia and
Macedonia. He says that about 7000 new applications are coming every month
comparing to last year when it was just about 100 per month. Mr. Hermann argues
that the Roma in those countries are not experiencing persecution that would
qualify them for asylum and that they are just applying to get the money out of
the German welfare system.

All those applications are getting examined but Roma, according to his
argumentation, do not fulfill the requirements to be seen as political
persecuted so their applications are rejected. It is up to the Department of
Foreign Affairs to evaluate the situations in those countries and decide whether
or not those circumstances are asylum-relevant conditions. He goes on and says
that “we cannot receive everyone who has not the same living standards as we
have in Germany”. Mr. Hermann’s argumentation is based on the dilemma that there
is not enough space for everyone in the reception camps and that the Roma, that
in his view just abuse the German welfare system, take away the places from
those who are ‘really’ in need, for example those who suffer from the civil war
in Syria.

Mr. Rose agrees with Mr.Hermann that those circumstances are not a reason for
asylum. Countries like Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic are part of the EU
and still the living standards there for Roma are more like in Bangladesh. It is
a question of humanity and of human rights and it is the duty of the Western
European states to influence those countries to stop this segregation and
integrate their minorities. 

Is the state failing?

To the question if it is a failure of the state when Romas are being left alone
with those prejudices, Mrs. Bislimi answered that it is defiantly a states
failure because one needs to step up to them and give them the feeling that they
are welcome in this country and that it is heard what they want. One needs to
show them also how it could work and they should not be abandoned. She is a role
model for how it could work. She came with 14, finished school, went to the
university and is now a lawyer who helps others with their applications for
asylum. Mrs. Bislimi said that she could just succeed because so many people
were standing behind her who actually believed in her, otherwise she would have
never made it that far.

Also Damir Kovani is speaking about his experiences as a Roma in Germany and
his reasons why he applied for asylum. When Damir Kovani came the first time to
Germany he was five years old. He had a normal live in Germany. He went to the
kindergarten and to school but in 2002 his family was deported to Serbia. They
came originally from there and his nationality is Serbian. They came because of
the war but had to return when the situation was settled. His family split and
he was alone with his 4 year old sister in a country that was alien for him. He
could not go to school anymore, the people were swearing at him and he got hit
by the police, so he decided to come back with his wife and family to Germany
and applied for asylum. His application was rejected. They have time until the
25th of January to voluntary leave Germany.

The discussion was very emotional, a lot of times Mrs. Maischberger had to calm
down her guests and get the discussion back on track. It is a very sensitive
topic so it was obvious that it would not be an easy going discussion but it was
necessary to address this topic in a public discussion.