Antiziganism Commissioner | Michael Brand: Knowledgeable in human rights

The federal government has made an important personnel decision: Michael Brand (CDU) will assume the position of Commissioner Against Antigypsyism in addition to his position as Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs. Federal Minister for Family Affairs Karin Prien (CDU) will propose the appointment to the cabinet, according to government sources.

Brand, 51, brings extensive experience in human rights work. Born in Fulda in 1973, he completed a master's degree in political science, history, and law at the University of Bonn in 2001 after completing his military service. During his studies, he worked at the European Balkan Institute and spent a year studying in Sarajevo, where he also served as an OSCE election observer. Brand has represented his home constituency of Fulda in the German Bundestag since 2005. From 2013 to 2017, he chaired the Committee on Human Rights and Humanitarian Aid, and subsequently served as human rights policy spokesperson for the CDU/CSU parliamentary group. His commitment has already led to diplomatic tensions: In 2016, China denied him entry because of his commitment to the oppressed Tibetans, Uyghurs, and Christians there.

The Central Council of German Sinti and Roma expressly welcomes the appointment. "Michael Brand has the trust and support of the Central Council," the organization stated. He particularly acknowledges his long-standing commitment to the Society for Threatened Peoples, a human rights organization that supported the Central Council from an early stage. "Through his early involvement in a human rights organization, State Secretary Michael Brand brings the necessary qualifications to his position to recognize and counteract antigypsyism," the Central Council further emphasizes.

Brand succeeds Mehmet Daimagüler , the first holder of the position, which was introduced in 2022, who resigned for personal reasons. The position was in jeopardy for a time: At the end of May, it appeared as if the position would be abolished, causing great unrest among Sinti and Roma associations.

The new commissioner must act at a time of increasing extreme right-wing violence. As the chair of the Central Council, Romani Rose, emphasizes, the report of the Independent Commission on Antigypsyism, presented in 2023, demonstrates the extent of the problem: "Antigypsyism, which was shaped into a racial ideology by the Nazis, was uncritically adopted by the bureaucracy of the democratic constitutional state." Brand's task will be to coordinate and further develop the federal government's measures against discrimination and exclusion of Sinti and Roma. There is certainly a need for this.