Dirk Underlich and children
“A team of 20 social workers, police officers, and special agents raided a homeschooling family’s residence near Darmstadt, Germany Thursday, forcibly removing the family’s four children, aged 7-14. Law enforcement raided the home and seized the children solely because the parents home school them--in defiance of a German ban on home education. According to the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA), the children of Dirk and Petra Wunderlich were taken to unknown locations. Officials reportedly told the parents they would not be seeing their children ‘anytime soon.’ HSLDA states that it obtained and translated court documents that authorized the use of force to seize the children and remove them from their parents’ custody. The documents indicated that the only legal grounds for removal were the family’s continuation of homeschooling. Though nothing indicated that the parents were failing to provide an adequate education, the law in Germany ignores the educational progress of the child. Attendance in government schools--not learning--is the object of the German law. According to HSLDA, Judge Koenig, a Darmstadt family court judge, signed the order to seize the children on Wednesday. Koenig cited the parents’ failure to cooperate ‘with the authorities to send the children to school.’ In addition, the judge authorized the use of force ‘against the children’ if necessary, indicating that such force might be needed because the children had ‘adopted the parents’ opinion’ regarding homeschooling, and ‘no cooperation could be expected’ from either the parents or their children. ... Michael Farris [founder of HSLDA] said that the right of parents to decide on how their children are educated is a human right of the highest order: ‘This case demonstrates conclusively why the Romeike asylum case is so important. Families in Germany need a safe place where they can educate their children in peace.’ HSLDA is also representing the Romeike family, a German homeschooling family that was granted legal asylum in the United States in 2010 by a U.S. immigration judge. The Obama administration, however, successfully appealed that decision. When the Romeikes appealed to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, but were denied asylum, HSLDA decided to ask the Supreme Court to hear the case. If denied asylum by the Supreme Court, the Romeike family faces thousands of dollars in fines and possible jail time in Germany because they have homeschooled their children.” (“German Authorities Round up Homeschooled Children,” Breitbart, Aug. 31, 2013) Comments are closed.
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