A new wave of anti-Gypsyism incidents reported in Germany, with a significant increase in verbal stereotyping and physical attacks.
According to the third annual report of the nationwide monitoring center, MIA, a total of 1,678 incidents of anti-Gypsyism were recorded in 2024, a significant rise from the 1,233 incidents reported in the previous year. The report highlights the widespread nature of anti-Gypsyism, with victims experiencing discrimination and violence in almost all aspects of their lives.
Verbal stereotyping, which accounted for 856 of the reported incidents, was the most common type of anti-Gypsyism in 2024. The report also documented incidents of discrimination (666), physical attacks (57) and extreme violence (10) against the Roma and Sinti community.
The education sector was a particular focus of the report, with 313 incidents of segregation, bullying and even violence documented in schools. The report also highlighted the significance of the Nazi past, with 94 incidents of direct reference to the persecution of the Roma and Sinti during the Holocaust, including vandalism, desecration of cemeteries and glorification of the Nazi regime.
The head of MIA, Guillermo Ruiz, described the high number of anti-Gypsyism incidents as an alarming signal, emphasizing the need for the government and society to take concrete action against anti-Gypsyism. He stressed that the Roma and Sinti community faces exclusion, discrimination and violence, often in the midst of everyday life and increasingly perpetrated by state institutions.
The report’s findings are based on the nationwide work of MIA’s federal office and six regional monitoring centers in Bavaria, Berlin, Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.