FRA Survey - Minority Discrimination and Victimisation in the EU Member States
May 28, 2009: Second EU report shows 1 in 4 Muslims stopped by the police in the past 12 months
The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has released the second report from the “EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS) – “Data in Focus 1: Muslims”. Executed by Gallup, the survey reveals that discrimination, harassment and racially motivated violence are far more widespread than recorded in official statistics.
The latest report shows that 1 in 3 Muslim respondents were discriminated against in the past 12 months and 11% experienced a racist crime. The highest levels of discrimination occurred in the workplace and especially among the 16-24 age group. Just under 8 in 10 Muslim respondents did not report such discrimination. This means that “thousands of cases of discrimination and racist crime remain invisible” and are not recorded officially.
The majority of Muslim respondents who experienced discrimination in the past 12 months believed this was due to their ethnic background, rather than their religion. A quarter of Muslim respondents said they had been stopped by the police in the last 12 months - 40% felt this was due to their ethnicity (‘ethnic profiling’). This was especially thought to be the case in Italy and Spain.
FRA will release up to nine 'Data in Focus' reports from the survey, and a final report will be launched at a conference in Sweden in December. The EU-MIDIS survey, conducted by Gallup, was based on face-to-face interviews with a random sample of respondents from selected ethnic minority and immigrant groups in all 27 EU Member States. The survey is the first of its kind to systematically survey minority groups across the EU using the same standard questionnaire.
For the full reports, visit the site.
April 22, 2009: EU survey of minorities and immigrants sheds new light on extent of racism in EU
The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) has released the first two reports from the “EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey (EU-MIDIS) – these are the “EU-MIDIS at a Glance” (which provides an overview of the complete survey) and “Data in Focus 1: Roma” (which has detail on the EU’s most vulnerable minority group). Executed by Gallup, the survey reveals that discrimination, harassment and racially motivated violence are far more widespread than recorded in official statistics. The results suggest a sense of resignation among ethnic minorities and immigrants who appear to lack confidence in mechanisms to protect victims.
Over half (55%) of migrants and minorities surveyed by FRA think that discrimination based on ethnic origin is widespread in their country, and over a third (37%) say that they have personally experienced discrimination in the past 12 months. Roughly one in eight (12%) personally experienced a racist crime in the past 12 months. However, 80% of these did not report the incident to the police.
Of all the groups surveyed by the FRA, the Roma emerge as the most vulnerable to discrimination and racist crime. Roma reported the highest levels of discrimination, with one in two respondents saying that they were discriminated against in the last 12 months. High levels of discrimination were also mentioned by Sub-Saharan Africans (41%) and North Africans (36%).
FRA will release up to nine 'Data in Focus' reports from the survey, and a final report will be launched at a conference in Sweden in December. The EU-MIDIS survey, conducted by Gallup, was based on face-to-face interviews with a random sample of respondents from selected ethnic minority and immigrant groups in all 27 EU Member States. 23,500 people of an ethnic minority or immigrant background were interviewed. The survey is the first of its kind to systematically survey minority groups across the EU using the same standard questionnaire.
For the full reports, visit the site.
