Community Life Paraphrase: The everyday happenings and dynamics of a group of people - Anti-Gypsy sentiment increasing following incident, says Central Council.
The Sinti and Roma memorial in Flensburg, where countless members of the community were murdered in the Holocaust, has been damaged, sparking concern among the Central Council of German Sinti and Roma. The council's chairman, Romani Rose, has expressed worry over the potential increase in anti-Gypsyism in Germany, linking it to the nation's recent right-wing political shift.
Rose urges authorities and law enforcement to address this issue swiftly to show firm resistance against minority targeting. "Politicians and the judiciary must understand that anti-Gypsyism is a serious threat to our country's internal security, just like anti-Semitism," Rose highlighted. He also encourages people to vote against these right-wing extremist attitudes.
According to the Central Council, the Monitoring and Information Office on Anti-Gypsyism recorded 621 anti-Gypsyist incidents in 2022. The upcoming report for 2023, set to be released in mid-June, is expected to demonstrate an alarming increase in such cases due to the rise in nationalism, added Rose.
Incidentally, the memorial for the Sinti and Roma who were deported from Flensburg and the surrounding area in 1940 was vandalized on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Authorities suspect that this could be a politically motivated crime and have handed over the investigation to the State Protection Office.
