Original story after they were granted asylum:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/us/01homeschool.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Updated story after the appeal was lost"
Home Schooling German Family Fights Deportation - ABC News
Additional update with more information:
Christian Parents Who Fled Germany To Home-School Kids To Appeal Asylum Case To Supreme Court « CBS DC
Another similar update:
German homeschoolers fight for asylum in US - Features - Al Jazeera English
How this story got spun as gays and Muslims can get asylum at the drop of a hat, but if you are a Christian you're SOL, is beyond me. Even further beyond me is how someone can actually believe that's the case. The Romeike's case for asylum has nothing whatsoever to do with them being Christian (despite their initial claim that it did), and neither does the legal decision which reversed their grant of asylum. Turns out, the German government treats all truancy the same, regardless of the reason.
Because Christians in the United States (and a few other countries) have the right to homeschool their children, they feel that Christians should have the same right in other countries. But they don't. Homeschooling is not a fundamental human right (though, it certainly should be, as parents should be able to raise their children in any way they see fit). In Germany is it illegal to homeschool. You can school your children in public or private school, but it must be an actual school. The German Supreme Court has stated that the purpose of the homeschooling ban is to,
“counteract the development of religious and philosophically motivated parallel societies.” That's a position that is abhorrent to most Americans, but then again Germany isn't America, and this is about German law not American law. But Christians are seeking to force their own American and religious principles onto that of a foreign country. Good luck with that.
