A study of black people living in 13 European Union nations have found that many are subjected to prejudice and violence that “keeps on haunting their daily lives”.
In Germany, the percentage of people who felt discriminated against has just about doubled since the last survey was conducted in 2018.
An EU agency had said that the findings should serve as a wake-up call to the authorities.
The FRA has discovered that a pot of black people in the EU continuously face bias and discrimination on behalf of their skin colour. These difficulties range from finding it hard to secure employment and housing for themselves, to experiencing harassment that deeply traumatises them.
The report had surveyed over 6,700 first- and second-generation black citizens living in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, Sweden and Spain.
Comparing this year’s survey results to those performed five years ago, the report calls attention to the “alarming lack of advancement” made towards addressing racism.
Within that time, the report revealed that almost half of people of African descent experienced racial discrimination – a sharp increase from the 39% recorded in 2016 to 45% recorded in 2022.
Looking at specific nations, 64% of those surveyed in Germany and Austria felt discriminated against in the period of the past 12 months.
This number skyrockets to 76% in Germany over the past five years, followed by Austria with 72% and Finland with 63%.
On the other hand, Poland, Sweden and Portugal experienced the lowest rates of harassment and discrimination in all of the 13 European Union countries, according to those surveyed.
Mr O’Flaherty of the FRA has said that being confronted with the true scale of racism in the EU was both “alarming and shameful” and that racial prejudice had no place in Europe.
“The FRA will continue to work to help ensure that everyone is treated equally and with dignity,” he added.
