Afro-descendants living in the European Union suffer from "extended and recurrent" racism and discrimination that continues over time and in all facets of their lives, according to a report that denounces that, far from improving, the problem has worsened in the last six years. "The lack of progress is alarming," says the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) in the second edition of the report "Being Black in the EU", published this Wednesday, and which indicates that 45% of Africans or descendants of Africans residing in the European Union suffer situations of racism and discrimination.
This data, obtained from a survey carried out last year among almost 7,000 people in thirteen countries of the European Union, shows a worsening of the feeling of discrimination compared to the 39% of Afro-descendants who in a 2016 study reported having suffered racist behavior. "It starts at school and continues as you move through life, looking for a job or an apartment. It accumulates over time," Vida Beresneviciute, one of the authors of the report, explains to EFE.
Although Beresneviciute indicates that these six points, from 39 to 45%, of the prevalence of discrimination is statistically small, he insists that the important thing is that the study confirms that "Europeans are no less racist now" than in 2016. And, above all, that the racism they experience is "widespread and persistent" and are not isolated incidents.
"Afro-descendants routinely receive unfair and prejudiced treatment when seeking employment or housing. Racial discrimination, harassment and violence continue to stalk their daily lives," is the emphatic complaint made in the report's prologue by the director of the FRA, Michael O'Flaherty.
The FRA report reviews the different situations that people of African descent have to experience in the European Union. Thus, 30% of those surveyed say they have suffered harassment, 58% have been subjected to police checks due to the color of their skin, and 34% say they have felt discriminated against when looking for work.
A third of people of African descent say they have experienced discrimination when trying to find housing, and young people of African descent are three times more likely to drop out of school early than the general population.
More than a third of Afro-descendants surveyed work in jobs below their level of training, fourteen points more than among the general overqualified population, and another 30% have temporary jobs, three times more than among the general population, according to the data. of the FRA.
Although the EU has had binding anti-discrimination legislation since 2000, the testimonies of black people living in Europe speak of a worsening situation.
In this regard, Beresneviciute points out that the report concludes that very few of those surveyed are aware of the existence of laws against discrimination and the report regrets that only 9% of those who suffer episodes of racism end up reporting it.
Therefore, the report recommends that EU members take measures such as correctly applying legislation and imposing effective and proportionate sanctions against racism and hate crimes, or developing policies to address racism in education, employment, searching for housing or healthcare.
Among the countries participating in the study, Austria and Germany have the highest rates of discrimination, with 67 and 65 percent of Black people surveyed stating that they have experienced discrimination in the five years prior to the survey.
Poland, with 21%, is the country where, according to the FRA, discrimination is least widespread, followed by Portugal and Sweden, with 27%. In Spain, 37% of those surveyed stated that they had suffered episodes of racism or racial discrimination during that period.
"Racism and discrimination should have no place in our societies," says O'Flaherty in a statement released by the FRA, in which he calls on the EU and member countries to ensure "that people of African descent can also enjoy freely of their rights without racism or discrimination".
