Racism Has Been On The Rise In Europe: Survey

Racism is on the rise in Europe, with countries like Germany, Austria and Finland recording the highest rates of discrimination, according to a survey conducted by a rights group.

The survey was commissioned by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA). It analysed responses from 6,752 people of African descent in 13 European countries.

The 13 countries included Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

Out of the total number of people surveyed for the analysis, as many as 45 per cent of respondents said that they experienced racial discrimination, an increase of six percentage points from 39 per cent in 2016.

Three in five people surveyed in Germany and Austria claimed to have faced discrimination in the last five years.

The respondents also said that they faced discrimination when renting a home due to their racial or ethnic origin. They claimed to have experienced racism and discrimination in all areas of life, including employment, education, and policing.

As many as 23 per cent of black people said that someone made offensive or threatening comments to their child due to their ethnic or immigrant background.

"It is shocking to see no improvement since our last survey in 2016. Instead, people of African descent face ever more discrimination just because of the colour of their skin," said Michael O'Flaherty, director at the EU's fundamental rights agency.

"Racism and discrimination should have no place in our societies. The EU and its member states should use these findings to better target their efforts and ensure people of African descent, too, can enjoy their rights freely without racism and discrimination," he said.

The situation is reportedly no better in the UK. In 2014, a survey found an unexpectedly large number of native Britons admitting they did not like nor trust those of other racial and ethnic groups.

Earlier this year, London's Metropolitan Police came under scrutiny after a report claimed that the Met officers are "institutionally racist, misogynistic, and homophobic".

The report said that some of the people in the Met have racist attitudes and that "Black, Asian, and ethnic minority officers and staff are more likely to experience racism, discrimination, and bullying at their hands". Furthermore, the Met force is still largely white (82%) and male (71%).

Recently, an analysis by campaign group Liberty Investigates revealed that black girls are almost three times more likely to be subjected to an invasive strip search by the Met Police as opposed to their white counterparts.

The group analysed data obtained via freedom of information requests for the period between 2017 and 2022. It found that almost half (47%) of those subjected to these strip searches were black.