German homeschoolers granted asylum in U.S.           

                                                                                                                                                                     Vol. XXIII, No. 3, March 2010

A couple that was persecuted in Germany because they homeschooled their children has been granted political asylum in the United States.

Uwe and Hannelore Romeike fled to Tennessee in 2008 after German officials ordered them to send their children to school, pay fines totaling $10,000, or have their children taken away. In Germany, children are required to attend public or private schools, and those who choose homeschooling have reported a trend in prosecutions.

"During the last 10 to 20 years the curriculum in public schools has been more and more against Christian values," Uwe Romeike said, according to the Associated Press. "We knew we had to leave the country."

A U.S. immigration court Jan. 26 granted the family asylum, finding that the German government violated their basic human rights. The incident marks a rare case of asylum being granted to people from a nation with which the United States has strong diplomatic ties and even a military alliance, AP noted.

"There is no safety for homeschoolers in Germany," said Mike Donnelly of the Home School Legal Defense Association, which represented the family. "The two highest courts in Germany have ruled that it is acceptable for the German government to 'stamp out' homeschoolers as some kind of 'parallel society.'"

The Alliance Defense Fund provided support to the home school association for the case. ADF legal counsel Roger Kiska said parents have the right to make decisions regarding their children's education without undue government interference.

"The immigration court has clearly recognized that basic human rights are being violated by the German policy of persecuting homeschooling families," Kiska said. "Many Americans are simply unaware of just how bad the policy is."

Donnelly said he hopes the ruling will influence public opinion in Germany and that the government will understand that homeschoolers are not a threat to society.