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German homeschooling family asked US for political asylum

A federal immigration judge in Memphis is expected to issue a ruling today on the case of a German family that applied for political asylum after suffering persecution from the German government over homeschooling their children, reports Peter J. Smith, LifeSiteNews.com.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled Germany and sought safe haven within the United States in 2008 after enduring years of punishment from the German government for educating their five children at home in conformity with their Christian values – a legal crime in Germany.

"The persecution of homeschoolers in Germany has dramatically intensified," said HSLDA staff attorney Michael P. Donnelly. "They are regularly fined thousands of dollars, threatened with imprisonment, or have the custody of their children taken away simply because they choose to home educate."

Although Germany is a modern social democracy, the nation retains statist attitudes formed by the National Socialists during the Third Reich regarding the rights of families. In order to bring about the uniform educational and social formation of the youth by the state, the Jugendamt (Youth Welfare Office) was created, and Germany outlawed homeschooling through a compulsory education law.

The laws outlawing homeschooling remained on the books in Germany after the demise of Hitler’s Germany, but German officials for the most part maintained a policy of salutary neglect as late as 2002, when the Education Minister of the time stated the government would not crack down on the homeschooling minority since their children “are generally not lacking in any other respects.”

But even then a marked sea-change in the government’s attitude was underway, and by 2006, the succeeding Education Minister K. Horstmann, made clear its policy. He warned homeschooling families: “The education administration in future will also not recognize so-called homeschooling and act in proportionate measure considering the individual case and circumstances.”

For Uwe and Hannelore Romeike that meant enduring thousands of euros in crippling fines, threats of prison time, and in October 2006, Jugendamt officials made good on their threat to seize their children and place them in a local state-run school.

The persecution faced by the Romeikes, however, is typical of the suffering faced by homeschooling families, some of whom have also had the traumatizing experience of armed police storming their homes at night to take their children away. However, Christian parents have persisted in homeschooling, saying that they want to keep their children free from the corrupting influence of the state-run schools, which they say have been peddling occultism, secular values, and grossly explicit sex education.

"We left family members, our home, and a wonderful community in Germany, but the well-being of our children made it necessary," said Uwe Romeike.

Hannelore Romeike praised the freedom that they now enjoy to educate their children at home in Tennessee.

"The freedom we have to homeschool our children in Tennessee is wonderful,” said Romeike. “We don't have to worry about looking over our shoulder anymore wondering when the youth welfare officials will come or how much money we have to pay in fines.”

"If the political asylum application is granted it will be the first time America has ever granted political asylum to Christian homeschoolers fleeing from German persecution," said Donnelly.

Donnelly hopes that if the court grants the Romeike’s asylum, it will put more pressure on Germany to back down from its persecution of homeschoolers or face international embarrassment. A positive ruling could also pave the way for other homeschooling families to apply for political asylum in the United States.

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TAGS: USA Germany German homeschooling family political asylum persecution Uwe and Hannelore Romeike Christian values

[01/21/2010]

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