Refugee family denied asylum

By Catherine Brown

A Romany refugee family, denied asylum by the Cologne city council (led by the Social Democrats), is now in hiding to avoid forced deportation to Macedonia. Asylum was denied on the basis that “currently there is no fighting in Macedonia”.

An extreme right-wing group, Deutsche Liga, also on the council, has posted over 50,000 “wanted” posters with a photo of Nidar Pampurova and a reward offer of 5000 deutschmarks.

Posters are being torn down in protest. Sympathy for the family has been growing, particularly because half their family died in Nazi concentration camps.

Kurt Holl of Cologne's Roma and Sinti Association predicts the proposed forced deportation is only the beginning, as up to 95% of refugee applications are rejected.

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