A shocking poll commissioned by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) showed that black people in Europe perceive a rise in racism across the continent, with Germany, Austria and Finland registering the highest rates of discrimination and harassment.
The poll was carried out by Ipsos between 2021 and 2022 with a survey to 16,124 immigrants and descendants of immigrants across 15 countries in Europe. The previous study on the topic by the FRA was released six years ago. The FRA will release several other reports on different minorities across the continent.
The first study released, called Being Black in the EU, showed that 34% of the respondents in 13 countries felt racially discriminated in the previous 12 months, up 10% from the previous survey. The survey was made of 6,752 people born in sub-Saharan Africa or with at least one parent born there. It involved Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Austria and Germany recorded the highest proportion of responded who felt racially discriminated, at 64%, with Finland following suit at 54%. The result is particularly jarring for Germany as it doubled the previous level of 33% over the last six years. Austria’s previous level was 42%. On the other side of the spectrum with the lowest level of racial discrimination rates were Portugal, Sweden and Poland.
FRA Director Michael O’Flaherty commented that “It is shocking to see no improvement since our last survey,” as “people of African descent face ever more discrimination just because of the colour of their skin.”
