New Report Finds Racism Prevalent Across Europe

[Richard]

The more things change, the more they remain the same...and so it goes...

For minority groups living in Europe, everyday pursuits like shopping or visiting the doctor are often soured by discrimination. According to a new EU-wide report, racism is deeply entrenched -- and, more worryingly still, often goes unreported.

Richard's jaded $.02

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B]New Report Finds Racism Prevalent Across Europe[/B]
Der Spiegel, 10 Dec 2009

For many of Europe's ethnic minorities and immigrants, racism and discrimination is a sad fact of day-to-day life, according to a report published on Wednesday by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).


Europe, whose citizens once fled in droves in favor of a more promising future elsewhere, has gradually emerged as a magnet for immigrants. But the experience of its ethnic minorities and newcomers is often far from rosy, according to the new survey. Among a raft of sobering facts, it found that on average, every second Roma and more than a third of the Sub-Saharan African interviewees were discriminated against on the basis of their ethnicity at least once over the past year.

Doubts About Local Police

Strikingly, they also found that among those facing discrimination in the last 12 months, some 82 percent did not report their experience to authorities, often because of doubts about local police.

The EU-wide study is the first of its kind, having collected the opinions of 23,500 people from various ethnic minorities and immigrant groups across the EU's 27 member states in 2008. To pin down the extent of the problem, it used a range of questions probing discrimination in various spheres of everyday life, including work or job hunting, looking for accomodation, health care and social services, schools and shops, as well as experiences like trying to open a bank account or obtain a loan.

The report found that the Roma face more discrimination because of their background than other groups. On average, each Roma interviewee had been discriminated against some 4.6 times in the past year. After the Roma, people from Sub-Saharan Africa faced the greatest discrimination, followed by North Africans.

Racially-Motivated Threats

The organization also dissected their findings on a country-by-country basis, highlighting zones of high-level prejudice around the EU. Those found to be experiencing the highest levels of racism of any group were the Roma in the Czech Republic, followed by the Roma in Hungary and the Roma in Greece. Almost as badly affected were Sub-Saharan Africans in Ireland and North Africans living in Italy.

In an effort to differentiate between types of discrimination, the report also looks at levels of assault and threat against minority groups, with Somali respondents in Finland reporting the highest incidents in Europe. Fully 74 of 100 respondents said they had experienced an assault or a threat. When it comes to serious harrassment, 174 incidents were reported for every 100 Roma respondents in Greece.

While Roma, Sub-Saharan Africans and Muslims consistently reported the highest levels of racism, one exception was Brazilians living in Portugal. They reported high levels of anti-immigrant sentiment.

Across Europe as a whole, one in four people from a minority group had been the victim of a crime over the last year -- a bitterly ironic finding given that they themselves are often stereotyped as criminals.

Among the survey group, it was the younger respondents who reported the worst violence. For example, among North African immigrants, the most attacks were recorded among the youngest age groups (a third of those aged 24 or under had been victimized, along with 30 percent for those aged 25 to 39). For the oldest age group, 55 years and older, just 12 percent were affected.

Police Mistrust

Interestingly, the report found no significant differences in victimization according to gender, striking a contrast with previous surveys.

Some communities questioned saw the police as part of the problem. Amongst the North Africans in the survey, 1 in 5 thought that they had been stopped by the police because of their ethnicity.

Similarly, the report pointed to a prevailing mistrust among immigrants and ethnic minorities towards the local police forces. A total of 82 percent of the individuals who said they had had a recent experience of discrimination in the past year did not report it to the police, mostly on the grounds that "nothing would happen" or "it happens all the time."

"This lack of reporting indicates that official figures on racist discrimination constitute just the 'tip of the iceberg'," the report said.

It added that the contrast between official statistics and the high frequency of racially motivated incidents revealed by this survey, "is evidence enough that much more needs to be done."

http://www.spiegel.de/international/...666317,00.html

[The Reaper]

I take it that the "Roma" are the Gypsies.

When I was in Italy, they were responsible for a disproportionately large percentage of the crimes in any area they congregated in.

Africans immigrated illegally or stayed after their visas expired and set-up street stalls to illegally sell cheap knockoffs or begged on the corners without any permission or permits. My Italian friends said that they would rent a two bedroom apartment and have more than a dozen people living there.

I wonder if that accounts for the "racism" that the survey noted.

TR

[Greenhorn]

Well the problem with the "Roma" in the Czech republic is closely linked to right-wing extremism and it causes serious problem. People from regions with high level of unemployment, which, of course, affects the "Gypsy" population a lot, are afraid of increasing criminality and they don´t enjoy living next to the "ghettos". It´s a big social problem and local government often fails in solving it. It´s quite easy - there is a source of grievance, government is lax or it´s efforts are not sufficient so people are looking for quick solution - and extremists offers one - quiet quick and effective, but illegal. We have a really big problem with this right now. Police arrested one soldier, who was training the extremists in martial arts, weapon handling, ambushes, etc., one organization had a list of ideological enemies (Jewish people, policemen, civil experts on extremism...) called Red Watch and they wanted to threaten these people or use violence against them to make them scared and canceled the investigations against extremists.

We have a lot of social programs for integration Roma people into the society, but most of them are just black holes on money, there is no tangible effect. It´s not just about efforts from "our" side, it´s also about gypsies, they must really want to be integrated, because some of them enjoy living from the social support and time by time committed crimes.

[mojaveman]

A few years ago while I was waiting in line for two hours at the base of the Eiffel Tower I was approached by Romas, Africans, and a few Arabs. They didn't come up and just ask for money though, in horrible English they gave me some long spill about the conditions as to why they were there and then held out a satchel or small basket. It was kind of like professional begging.

I would say that the Swiss and Austrians are the most discriminating regarding illegal immigrants. The rest of the western Europeans are right behind them though. I don't know that it's blatant racism as much as it is them just wanting to maintain their quality of life. Illegal immigration is very taxing.

[zpo]

Originally Posted by mojaveman

Illegal immigration is very taxing.

Heh.

[98G]

just correcting capitalization of Quiet Professionals and somehow replied during the edit and accidentally sent.

[98G]

Nasha -- a ultra right wing youth group in Russia targets anyone looking "foreign" -- particularly from the caucuses. This includes Armenians. I had emergency surgery there and my surgeon -- a well educated citizen of Russia -- would not use the metro or walk on Moscow sidewalks after dark. Being of fair complexion, even though I am the foreigner, I blend in and get treated much better.

We are a country of immigrants, so the mix should be easier for us. European countries have a nationality and then a nation state (i.e., German ancestry and German citizenship) that weaken democratic resolve when the bottom of the economic food chain also "look" different. The worse the economy, the worse the prejudice. With a motto like DE OPPRESSO LIBER, I imagine the Quiet Professionals keep a higher standard in this regard.