The Civil Liberties Committee denounces structural racism against Afro-European people and calls on the EU and its member states for measures to tackle it.
The EU and the national authorities should develop anti-racism policies, covering the fields of education, housing, health, criminal justice, political participation and migration, Civil Liberties MEPs say in a resolution adopted on Monday with 29 votes to 1 and 1 abstention.
They urge the European Commission and EU countries to acknowledge the racism, discrimination and xenophobia suffered by Afro-Europeans, and to offer them adequate protection against these inequalities.
The text voices concern over the rise in Afrophobic attacks registered in the EU in recent years. It calls on the Commission to include a focus on people of African descent in current funding programmes and in the next multiannual financial framework (2021-2027).
The Committee underlines the importance of EU countries effectively responding to hate crime, and ensuring that hate crimes against Afro-European people are adequately investigated, prosecuted and sanctioned.
Police custody and racial profiling
MEPs denounce the increasing vulnerability of people of African descent in police custody, pointing to numerous violent incidents and deaths while in custody. They also note the frequent use of racial and ethnic profiling in criminal law enforcement, counter-terrorism measures and immigration control, and urge member states to end this practice.
Reparations for past crimes against humanity
The resolution encourages EU institutions and countries to follow the example of the member states that have taken steps forward redress for past injustices and crimes against humanity. These historic crimes, perpetrated in the context of European colonialism, still have negative consequences for African descent people in the present, MEPs claim.
They suggest the EU and member states to carry out reparations such as offering public apologies and the restitution of stolen artefacts to their countries of origin. The Committee also calls on EU countries to declassify their colonial archives, as well as to present a comprehensive perspective on colonialism and slavery in the educational curricula.
Discrimination against Afro-European children
Approximately 15 million people of African descent live in Europe nowadays. These people face persistent discrimination and are subject to deeply rooted negative stereotypes.
Evidence suggests that Afro-European children receive lower grades at school than their White mates do, and their rate of early school leaving is markedly higher, the draft resolution notes.
The draft resolution will be put to a vote by the full House during the January plenary session in Strasbourg.
