Germany's Sinti and Roma warn of rise of racist thinking

The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma warned on Monday of rising prejudice being directed at minority communities in Germany, as it marked the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of a monument to the Sinti and Roma murdered by the Nazis, reported Xinhua.

Despite good progress since 1949, "we have to take note of these developments, that a new nationalism and a new racist way of thinking are proliferating," council head Romani Rose said in Berlin.

Incitement against Sinti, Roma, Jews and other groups was again leading to minorities being "turned into scapegoats that feel threatened in their existence," Rose said. These crimes motivated by racial hatred were often excused with the failings of the security forces, he said.

Rose rejected calls for a line to be drawn under commemorating Holocaust crimes, as this would "deprive the society of today and future generations in this country of the opportunity of drawing lessons from history for the future of all of us."

The memorial, which commemorates the deaths of around 500,000 Sinti and Roma murdered during the Nazi dictatorship between 1933 and 1945, was opened on October 24, 2012, after more than 20 years in the planning.