BackSeventeen years after adoption of EU laws that forbid discrimination, immigrants, descendants of immigrants, and minority ethnic groups continue to face widespread discrimination across the EU and in all areas of life. For many, discrimination is a recurring experience.
This is just one of the findings of FRA’s Second European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS II), which collected information from over 25,500 respondents with different ethnic minority and immigrant backgrounds across all 28 EU Member.
The report follows up and expands on FRA’s first major EU-wide survey on minorities’ and migrants’ experiences, conducted in 2008. The survey focuses on discrimination in different settings, police stops, criminal victimisation, rights awareness and societal participation.
As with other FRA surveys, the high level of under-reporting indicate how stronger outreach is needed to encourage victims to come and report incidents, while law enforcement and equality bodies need the right tools to deal with these reports effectively.
Some of the other key findings include:
- 38% of respondents were discriminated against over the last five years with North Africans (45%), Roma (41%) and Sub-Saharan Africans (39%) particularly affected. Discrimination was greatest when it came to looking for work (29%);
- 31% of second-generation immigrant respondents experienced hate-motivated harassment in the last year. 50% of these victims were harassed at least six times in that year;
- Fewer minority members (61%) completed at least upper secondary education compared to the general population (74%). This reduces their employment chances.
FRA hopes that you will assist in bringing the findings to the attention of relevant decision makers and associations, whilst also raising general awareness of the issue.
Source: European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
