Black people in the European Union face many difficulties in finding housing or employment because of their skin color, according to the findings of an EU Fundamental Rights Agency survey released Wednesday (November 28th). 30% of the 6,000 respondents said they had already experienced racist harassment.
The report 'Being Black in the EU' reveals the many difficulties that black people face. According to a survey by the FRA, the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights, 30% of respondents say they have suffered in the past five years from a racist act. 5% report being physically assaulted.
FRA released a report Wednesday on a survey of 6,000 people of "African descent" in 12 EU Member States. It is a selection of results in its second large-scale survey on migrants and minorities (EU-MIDIS II).
Disparities between countries can be important. For example, 63% of Black people say they have been victims of "hate-motivated attacks" in Finland, 51% in Ireland, 48% in Italy, 41% in Sweden and Denmark, 23% in Portugal and 21% in Italy. United Kingdom.
In France, 32% say they have experienced this type of racism.
Discrimination in home ownership
Discrimination has concrete consequences according to the respondents, especially in housing. According to the survey, 14% of them say that private owners have refused to rent them a home. In addition, only 15% of black respondents are homeowners, compared with 70% of the general EU population.
"In the 21st century, there is no excuse for racial discrimination. However, in the European Union today, black people frequently face discrimination and harassment simply because of their skin color , " says Michael O'Flaherty, FRA director.
"The results of this victimization survey show the reality of widespread discrimination on the basis of skin color , " said Dominique Sopo, president of SOS Racisme. "In this respect, all tools must be mobilized to fight against the scourge of racism, whether it is the fight against prejudice or the judicial tool that reminds us of what is the common law - based on equal treatment - but also those who break it. "
24% of blacks controlled by the police
"Racial discrimination and harassment are commonplace," FRA writes in a statement. Experiences of racist violence vary considerably from country to country. The European Agency also points to the discriminatory profiling that can be achieved by the police. 24% of those surveyed say they have been police-controlled in the last five years.
Of these, 41% felt that the control performed represented racial profiling. FRA believes that "these controls undermine confidence in policing and undermine community relations. "
No ethnic statistics in France
As a reminder, in France, there are no ethnic statistics, because this counting tool is subject to debate. Article 1 of the 1958 Constitution "ensures equality before the law of all citizens without distinction of origin, race or religion" . To this is added the law of January 6, 1978, known as the "Computer Law and Freedoms", which prohibits the collection and recording of information revealing, directly or indirectly, the "racial" or ethnic origins and religious affiliation of persons .
According to Dominique Sopo, revisiting France's "slave and colonial past" would enable society to "overcome prejudices but also the inequalities that arise from them" .