Asylum for Homeschoolers

The latest issue of Time magazine has a story about a German family that was granted asylum in the US because homeschooling is illegal in Germany. In 2006, the European Court of Human Rights decided that the German law prohibiting homeschooling was acceptable under the European Convention on Human Rights.

So why did he seek asylum in the U.S. rather than relocate to nearby Austria or another European country that allows homeschooling? Romeike's wife Hannelore tells TIME the family was contacted by the Virginia-based Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), which suggested they go to the U.S. and settle in Morristown, Tenn. The nonprofit organization, which defends the rights of the U.S. homeschooling community — with its estimated 2 million children, or about 4% of the total school-age population — is expanding its overseas outreach. And on Jan. 26, the HSLDA helped the Romeikes become the first people granted asylum in the U.S. because they were persecuted for homeschooling.

The ruling is tricky politically for Washington and its allies in Europe, where several countries — including Spain and the Netherlands — allow homeschooling only under exceptional circumstances, such as when a child is extremely ill. That helps explain why in late February, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement formally appealed the Romeike ruling, which was issued by an immigration judge in Memphis, Tenn. His unprecedented decision has raised concerns that the already heavily backlogged immigration courts will be flooded with asylum petitions from homeschoolers in countries typically regarded as having nonrepressive governments.

"It's very unusual for people from Western countries to be granted asylum in the U.S.," says David Piver, an immigration attorney with offices in a Philadelphia suburb and Flagstaff, Ariz. In 2008, the most recent year for which data are available, only five Germans received asylum in the U.S. (The Justice Department declined to comment on specific cases.) Piver, who is not involved in the Romeike case, predicted the U.S. government would appeal the decision "so as not to offend a close ally."

Demjanjuk Deemed "Fit to Stay in Jail'

John Demjanjuk, the retired US autoworker and accused Nazi guard was deported to Germany to stand trial. (A previous post is here.) Germany doctors determined that he is fit to remain in custody until trial.

He is being kept under medical observation to allow experts to determine whether he is fit to go to trial - an assessment which may take weeks.

But deputy prison director Jochen Menzel said Mr Demjanjuk was in strikingly good condition.

"He is not typical for his age... he is in better shape than usual for an 89-year-old," he told German news channel N24.

Germany examining US Request to Take Guantanamo Detainees

Germany is studying a U.S. request to take in some prisoners held at its military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

In Germany, the question has revealed divisions between Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, a Social Democrat (SPD), and Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, a leader from Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU).

Steinmeier, the SPD candidate to challenge Merkel in September's federal election, has said Germany should take in some prisoners as a token of solidarity after Germany had long urged the United States to close the prison.

Schaeuble has expressed reservations about Germany accepting detainees.