Solidarity with the Roma who were evicted from the “Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism” Manifestation and rally in front of the Memorial | 3th June 2016, 17:00 at Alexanderplatz (Weltzeituhr) Due to the fact that Germany wants to deport us and because we do not have another choice, we have occupied the “Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism” on the 22 of May 2016, the place for the remembrance of our deported and murdered grandparents.
The politics should be ashamed. Soon after midnight our protest was evicted violently, our children were beaten and threatened at this place. We and our children have not deserved that. We are afraid that even our grandchildren will experience violence, exclusion and racism too. We will not allow that! That´s why we will return to that place on Friday 3th June 2016. This is the right way to call for attention to our situation. It is the right place!
We have chosen the place in respect and in commemoration of our murdered ancestors during the National Socialism. When will Germany finally respect us Sinti and Roma as human beings? We Roma have no state and no state owes us something. But we have the right of a life in dignity. This is what Germany owes to us. We demand our right in Germany!
We demand a revision of the tightening of the asylum laws, unconditional right to stay in Germany and social participation. The historical promise to integrate Sinti and Roma has to be realized more than 70 years after the murder of half a million of members of our minority – almost 91 percent. We are abandoned by law and politics. All Sinti and Roma from the Balkans have to leave Germany because these states are declared as so called 'safe countries of origin'. But for us the Balkan countries are not safe. Our lives are threatened and we are isolated, excluded and persecuted systematically and we are exposed to despotism of the state. For us there is no life in these countries, deportation is no option.
We are rising up for all Sinti and Roma. We will not give up! We cannot give up! We keep fighting and ask all Sinti and Roma and all German citizens to support our struggle for the right to stay and for a life perspective for Sinti and Roma. The declarations of solidarity by politicians and also the promises of those who are responsible for the eviction should no longer be empty words. We will stay in front of the entrance of the memorial until we get our rights, which were awarded to us in the 1950s.
Romano Jekipe Ano Hamburg