Press statement of Roma-organization on the IOM

04.Jan.02 - Press statement

http://www.romnews.com/a/32-01.html
Country: Germany
Topic: Compensation German Fund and IOM
Date: 8th of May, 2001
Location: Hamburg
Author: Rudko Kawczynki -Chair of the Board of Directors RNC (Roma National Congress)

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I turn to you in a very oppressive affair with an appeal for help and support.
Within the framework of the foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future", the IOM has been declared the partner organization for the non-Jewish part of the affected persons. The IOM is known to us for years as an organization which works against Roma refugees by order of different states. Professor Ian Hancock called the IOM in his report on the situation of the Roma in Europe "the enemy of the Roma people". The decision to entrust this organization with the handling of appeals and the distribution of compensation funds for Roma is incomprehensible for us, especially because the IOM has no experiences whatsoever concerning the handling of compensation appeals for committed NS-injustice (cf. also comments to the creation of the foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future").
We respectfully ask you to support us in our appeal for the equal treatment with our Jewish fellow-sufferers. This includes that we are not degraded to the plaything of an organization which simultaneously converts the deportation policy of numerous European states into action as a "mercenary NGO".
Since our efforts to get in contact with the responsible federal institutions, which we kept up since May last year, have been unsuccessful so far, we were forced to file a constitutional complaint at the Federal Constitution Court of Germany against the law for the creation of a foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future". Until now, 42 organizations and 900 privately engaged Roma joined our complaint. As you can see in the included copy of our constitutional complaint, the law for the creation of a foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future" contravenes, in our opinion, in large parts the German constitution. In particular, Roma are not only put at a disadvantage compared to the Jewish survivors of the NS-genocide by this law, but are even discriminated.
Up to now, the practice of "compensation" of our people can already be compared to a second persecution. In most cases, former culprits posing as experts or valuators were involved in the prevention of a serious compensation practice. Thus, we are horrified even more so that we were again degraded to Nazi victims of second degree.
We hope for your support in our claim for equal treatment of all surviving victims of the NS-terror.
Only if the law for the creation of a foundation "Memory, Responsibility and Future" really grants the constitutional equal treatment of all victims can this foundation be more than just an alibi, and really do justice to its own entitlement: to serve the memory, responsibility and future.
We again respectfully ask you to support our appeal, and hope for your statement concerning our complaint.
Yours sincerely,
Rudko Kawczynski / Chair of the Board of Directors