The relentless and pervasive scourge of racism against people of African descent continues to shroud Europe, according to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). The Agency’s latest survey, which explored the experiences of black individuals dwelling in 13 EU nations, unveiled an unsettling narrative of discrimination, prejudice and violence persistently marring the daily lives of these citizens.
An eyeopening reality is mirrored in Germany where the proportion of individuals subjected to prejudice has notably escalated, almost doubling from the figures last recorded in 2018. Undoubtedly, these revelations serve as an exigent cry for action, urging the EU to combat the issue more fervently.
Routinely facing bias and prejudice solely based on their skin tone, black citizens across the EU consistently grapple with hurdles in securing decent employment and housing opportunities. Furthermore, exposure to incessant coercion can have deeply traumatic implications.
The elaborate report is based on the responses of over 6,700 first and second -generation black citizens residing in an array of EU nations – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Sweden and Spain. Remarkably, the comparison of this year’s findings to the survey carried out five years earlier reveals an alarming stagnancy in making significant strides towards alleviating the deep-seated issue of racism.
Indeed, over the course of these five years, the percentage of individuals of African descent who have experienced racial bias has amplified from 39% in 2016 to 45% in 2022. The grim reality underpins the daily lives of these individuals, with 64% of the surveyed individuals in Germany and Austria battling discrimination in the past year alone. Forebodingly, this estimation heightened to 76% in Germany across the last five years, trailed by Austria at 72% and Finland at 63%.
FRA director, Michael O’Flaherty, poignantly captured the severity of the situation. Rallying for a substantial shift in attitude and actions, he engaged the crisp reality for many black citizens within the EU, particularly stressing the unfair treatment and biases they routinely face in their pursuits for employment and housing.
Remarkably, in Germany last year, the government made history by assigning Reem Alabali-Radovan as its first anti-racism commissioner. Alabali-Radovan’s response to the revealing survey underpinned the pressing need to bolster prevention strategies and to empower those bearing the brunt of racial discrimination.
Countries such as Poland, Sweden, and Portugal emerged with the least reported incidents of harassment and discrimination amongst the surveyed nations. However, incidents reflecting deep-seated racism, like the 2019 outrage triggered by an Austrian far-right deputy mayor’s distasteful poem comparing migrants to rats, and the resignation of Vilhelm Junnila of Finland’s far-right Finns Party due to accusations of frequent Nazi references, indicate a looming issue that requires urgent redressal.
FRA director O’Flaherty declared the unveiled extent of racism within the EU as “shocking and shameful”, emphatically highlighting that racial discrimination has no place in Europe. Guaranteeing FRA’s unremitting drive towards ensuring equal and dignified treatment for all, he emphasized the importance of concerted actions and continuous self-reflection in overcoming deeply entrenched barriers.
