Berlin / Germany (RNN Correspondent) 06.04.1998

On Tuesday the chairman of the Central Commission of the German Sinti and Roma, Romani Rose, demanded of the German Government and the Federal States the same rights of minority-languages for Romanes as for Sorbian, Frisian, Danish and Low German.

The background is the ratification of the "European Charta for regional and minority languages" that was signed by Germany in 1992. It is planned to take place in April or May.

Those languages that are included in the Charta must be supported by the Federation and the Federal States with specific measurements. The 150.000 German Sinti and Roma have the German languages as their second mother tongue. The German Romanes, which is different from the language of the East European Sinti and Roma has a history of 600 years, emphasises Rose. Under the National Socialist regime all over Europe 500.000 - 700.000 Sinti and Roma had been persecuted and murdered.