Politics Thread 5
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Lagamorph
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captain red dog
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KK
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KK
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People of African descent face 'dire picture' of racism in EU
Almost a third of people of African descent polled in a new EU survey say they have experienced racial harassment in the last five years, a report that claims racial discrimination is “commonplace” across 12 European countries reveals.
People of African descent face “a dire picture” of discrimination in housing, the workplace and everyday life, the survey of 5,803 people by the European Union’s fundamental rights agency states.
Perceived racial harassment, such as offensive gestures, comments or threats, was highest in Finland (63%) and Luxembourg (52%) and least prevalent in the UK (21%) and Malta (20%).
One in 20 respondents said they had been a victim of a physical attack in the last five years, ranging from 14% in Finland to 2% in Portugal. The figure was 3% for the UK.
“The survey paints a dire picture of the reality on the ground,” said the agency’s director, Michael O’Flaherty, in a preface to the report. Referring to the EU’s 2000 racial equality directive, he said: “Almost 20 years after adoption of EU laws forbidding discrimination, people of African descent face widespread and entrenched prejudice and exclusion.”
O’Flaherty wrote that: “Racial discrimination and harassment are commonplace,” adding that discriminatory profiling by the police is “a common reality”.
Most people who took the survey were first and second-generation immigrants, who come from, or have at least one parent from a sub-Saharan African country. The study also includes people from British and French overseas territories, including the Caribbean.
It does not, however, include black Europeans whose families have been settled in Europe for three or more generations, because most EU countries do not collect such data – a gap the agency is urging governments to remedy.
The report will be launched in the European parliament on Wednesday at an event hosted by the Italian politician Cécile Kyenge, one of only three black MEPs in the 751-strong assembly. The MEP has argued that the EU has a gap in its equality strategy and has drafted a non-binding resolution to promote equality for an estimated 15 million people of African descent in the EU. Her text will be voted on next week.
Of the 17 MEPs of an ethnic minority background, eight are from the U.K. Beyond the elected officials, the U.K. employs many of the assistants and advisers from minority backgrounds in the Parliament.
“After Brexit, in terms of fighting racism and discrimination, the EU is going to be worse off,” Alfiaz Vaiya, the coordinator of the Parliament’s anti-racism and diversity intergroup, said. “It’s losing a fundamental member state that, whether under Labour or Conservative governments, has advocated for anti-discrimination policy.”
The latest survey lays bare the extent of the task. One in 10 respondents said that racial discrimination had stopped them from renting an apartment or house, with a wide variation between countries: 37% reported this experience in Italy and 28% in Luxembourg, compared with 3% in the UK.
More charts and figures at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... cism-in-eu
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KK
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twitter.com/spectator/status/1067901880024686592
New migration figures released earlier today:
Non-EU migration to United Kingdom rises to 14 year high - but EU migration slows
Net migration from the European Union has fallen to its lowest level in six years, but migration from outside the EU is at its highest level since 2004, new figures show.
The Office for National Statistics said net migration of non-EU nationals in the year to June was 248,000 - the highest total in 14 years.
Meanwhile, net migration of EU nationals was 74,000 - the lowest since 2012.
That meant the UK's population rose by 273,000 due to immigration, with 49,000 British nations emigrating.
The total is down from record levels of around a third of a million two years ago but still well above the government's target of below 100,000.
The drop in EU migration has been mostly driven by changes in migration from E8 countries, with more people from Eastern Europe now leaving than arriving.
Departures have increased since the Brexit referendum. A weakened pound and improving economic conditions in Europe may have made the UK less attractive to EU migrants, according to Oxford University's Migration Observatory.
Axel Antoni, spokesperson for EU citizens' group The 3 Million, told Sky News he believed a lack of clarity about the future and rhetoric against migration in British politics was keeping "the best and brightest" away.
"If Theresa May thinks comments about queue jumpers are not listened to in the UK she's mistaken," he said.
Immigration minister Caroline Nokes said she was pleased migration had reduced and said the UK was "attracting and retaining highly skilled workers" and students who "bring significant benefits to our economy and universities".
"As we leave the EU we will put in place an immigration system which works in the best interests of the whole of the UK and further detail on that will be set out very soon," she said.
However, business leaders expressed concern over the numbers.
"These latest statistics highlight the continuing trend of falling net EU migration amid growing shortages across all skills levels in the UK," Matthew Fell, chief policy director at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), said.
The figures were welcomed by Lord Green Deddington, the chairman of Migration Watch, who said: "The net inflow from the EU is still roughly the size of the British Army, despite cries of alarm from industry over Brexit."
The figures come as the government prepares to release its proposals for an immigration system post-Brexit - plans that have been much delayed and so far described in only vague terms.
Mr Antoni told Sky News that for Europeans and the UK the larger numbers leaving the UK was "very sad".
"People have made the UK their home and they're leaving their home," he said.
Satbir Singh, Chief Executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of immigrants, said the drop was partly due to "toxic rhetoric".
"When a neighbour or a colleague or a friend says 'enough now' and leaves, we all lose out," he said.
https://news.sky.com/story/non-eu-migra ... s-11566853
