Upward trend in racist crimes in at least 8 EU countries

Racist violence and crime remain a serious social ill across Europe", says the 2006 report on racism and xenophobia presented by the new Fundamental Rights Agency to the Civil Liberties Committee on Monday. The report analyses discrimination in employment, housing and education across the 27 Member States.

Most EU countries have implemented the 2000 Racial Equality Directive, but the number of complaints and sanctions imposed remains low, suggesting the need to raise awareness, the report said. There is a lack of data about racist violence, with only 11 of the 27 countries providing statistics. What data there is shows an increase in recorded racist crimes, with the UK, Germany, Denmark, France, Slovakia, France and Ireland reporting a rise and Austria, Sweden and the Czech Republic showing a decrease.

The Agency said national data from most countries "remains unsatisfactory". In addition, there are big differences in how it is collected. While many countries collect no data, the "comprehensive system" employed in the UK led to the collection of more reports of racist crime in a 12-month period than the other 26 countries combined.


Jobs, housing still problematic for immigrants

Looking beyond crime, unemployment among immigrants and minorities remains significantly higher than for the majority population. Simply having an Arabic sounding name can hurt an applicant's job prospects, according to research done in Sweden.

Racial discrimination over housing is one of the main sources of complaints to anti-discrimination authorities in many Member States, especially advertisements for housing with "no foreigner" stipulations.

These problems are exacerbated for migrants without proper legal papers, who in some cases have become modern day slaves. The worst examples can be found among those in the domestic and farm sectors.

Education for all?

On paper most Member states provide education for all, but in practise vulnerable groups face difficulties. Reception centres for asylum seekers may not have easy access to schools, teachers may not be equipped to deal with students speaking a foreign language, while segregation of minorities still occurs in some countries. The Agency noted that half of all Roma children in the Czech Republic have been placed in special needs schools. The problem is being tackled but remains an issue in some countries