Rising in EU Countries and Not Just Confined Those Confined to Those on the Fringes

Co Chair of Cecile Kyenge, of the European Parliament’s Anti Racism and Diversity Intergroup’s – Afrophobia Working Group

AFROPHOBIA is :

·  rising in EU countries and not just confined those confined to those on the fringes

·  exemplified by differences in living standards between Afro –Europeans, PAD and majority populations

·  uses rhetoric to influence thinking which prejudices, segregates and denigrates, e.g. Black/dark still has negative connotations associated with bad or criminal; whilst white/clear is associated with light.

Co Chair Kyenge welcomes IDPAD as a unique opportunity to combat discrimination. The EU must seize the opportunity to do more to tackle Afrophobia, and send a strong signal that EU welcomes cultural diversity and tolerance. The ARDI will call on EU member states to prioritise the following :

1.  to adopt national strategies to tackle Afrophobia

2.  to amend the code of conduct of members of European Parliament for stronger sanctions against MEPs who engage in hate speech in Parliament

3.  justice is imperative for PAD affected by transatlantic slave trade and neocolonialism

4.  negative stereotypes being used for portrayal of PAD in the media must be tackled

5.  ACP countries need to also include Afrophobia in their strategy.

We must lay foundations for a fair & just society that does not discriminate.

Co Chair Bjork asserted that a lot of work still needs to be done to tackle Afrophobia here in Europe. Recently we have witnessed increased persecution and racial profiling of people at borders. What needs to be achieved is a project of justice; that addresses both the power structures & the justice structures; and addresses Europe´s colonial past and how that contributes to neo-colonialism.

Coordinator Biekman of the Global Coalition for the Implementation of the UN Decade for People of African Descent

·  in 2011 the network was established for the implementation of the DDPA. The Decade is needed to realise the political will of PAD because this was not sufficiently realized at the Durban Conference 2001. The DDPA was demonized by some states because of two controversial clauses in the DDPA relating to Palestine. E.g. CERD believed the Year for People of African Descent was a good way to realise political will; however there was opposition from such states such as the Netherlands. The Year was not seen to be the success it should have been by Africans who then began negotiating for a Decade.

·  MAAFA is on the Agenda because it was put there by Pan Africanist organisations. It is a matter of great importance to restore human rights to people of African descent; and therefore justice and development are crucial to the successful achievement of the Decade’s objectives. Key questions:

1.  Has the EU produced an action plan to realise the Decade ?

2.  Is there a monitoring system to evaluate what is being done to recognize the Decade?

Vice Chair Jallow Momodu of ENAR

In 2011 nothing happened to recognize the Year for People of African Descent; similarly in 2015 the Decade has started and yet this is the first time that the European Union has hosted such a meeting to recognize the Decade. This shows how little OUR LIVES matter. AFROPHOBIA allows deeper analysis of all the sectors we have rights to but in which people of African descent experience structural discrimination; it may be defined as the fear of losing power to people of African descent.

Violent hate crimes and Stop and Search by Police are faced by people of African descent throughout Europe to death; Moreover, OUR CHILDREN are left traumatized by racist incidents such as selective killing of children of color in schools etc by racists.

Black people are not in positions of power, and therefore decisions on causes and remedies for our oppression are more often than not made by others, e.g. what jobs we are allowed to take. We need to define those terms more.

RECOMMENDATIONS

·  It is Imperative that the above issues are addressed by policymakers.

·  It is imperative that we are VISIBLE, and the contributions made by people of African descent are recognized.

GANT, EEAS

Absolute prohibition of discrimination on any grounds in all spheres of external collaborations between the EU & the UN; supports the IDPAD and will continue to support its Programme of activities. Moreover, the need exists:

·  to work on means to combat discrimination in accordance with the mandate of ICERD; recognizing the DDPA calls for broader implementation of the instrument and global consensus.

·  to implement measures such as sector specific programmes, e.g. in health, civil society, education.

·  to implement concrete measures completed with political tools so that progress can be achieved and violations brought to a halt.

·  for exchange of best practices between EU member states and with partner countries.

·  for the EU to develop a Toolkit for combatting multiple forms of discrimination, e.g. experienced as a result of intersectionality by internal and external staff of EU institutions

MORITZ, Permanent Rep of the Netherlands to the EU

·  racism is an everyday reality in the Netherlands and anti-black racism is very prominent; PAD therefore have a sense of not belonging

·  distrust & alienation prevents all from reaping benefits of diversity, e.g. African descendant youth fall behind in education

·  government condemns direct & indirect discrimination, e.g. increased awareness around Schwarte Piet

·  actions intensified under the current government include the Diversity Charter and Action Plan for the Decade; communication from government of the Netherlands states it proposes to use IDPAD to strengthen its efforts to counter racism experienced by PAD.

·  Notably, the Parliament of the Netherlands has adopted an Action Plan for the Decade; recognition will evolve around the theme for the Decade, e.g. through remembrance of slavery through annual commemorations as well as research on Afrophobia, , labour market exclusion, and racial profiling of PAD

Countering racism at the regional level ties together principles of equality & justice; therefore the establishment of the High Level Working Group on Afrophobia by the European Parliament is welcomed.

ADAMO, DG Justice, European Commission

·  The Race Equality directive covers access to housing etc

·  Victims Right directive will enable individual assessment of victims for compensation.

·  New legislation is being implemented to combat racism and xenophobia as criminal law, and through monitoring, e.g. of hate speech.

Bad news

·  The reality on the ground is that there is growing racial discrimination, e.g. in health and persecution on religious grounds.

·  83% of people recently surveyed said they were not comfortable working with people of African descent

·  60% said they would not be comfortable with their child having an African heritage partner

·  The Fundamental Rights Agency ran a large scale survey of 23500 BME to gather data on their experiences of discrimination

- 41% sub Saharan Africans felt they had been discriminated against

- between 20-30% had been victims of assault or serious harassment in the

previous 12 months

Questions

One of the responses is how to implement legislation on the ground.

The need exists to increase data collection; apart from the UK very few countries collect

data on hate crime etc.

A dialogue has been started with Twitter, Facebook, etc to exercise their responsibilities

by taking down sites on which there is hate speech.

LENNAN

Erasmus Plus: - contributes to empowerment of young people through

-  New focus on disadvantaged people and refugees

-  Encouraging mobility by financing projects, scholarships, collaborations between EU and AU academics & students

-  Financing of African students in the EU, e.g. proposes assisting 25,000 African students into European universities by 2020.

-  Challenge faced is to build capacity to be a social helper …. To ensure cultural diversity requires dynamic people to get involved.

BINABI

-  The Association of Students of Congolese Descent but is open to everyone; has been in existence for 36 years

-  3 goals are promoting African culture, academic success and online networking

-  Argues Afrophobia is caused by ignorance and promotes social integration, e.g. through social events featuring African cuisine, art, literature and culture; as well as conferences with professionals of African descent.

-  Prejudice causd by Afrophobia in the job market led to formation of the Alumni network.

-  Multiculturalism should be seen as a strength in Europe and not a weakness

FINAL NOTES

·  Studies of best practices are being done in the Netherlands

·  There is a lack of equality data in Sweden and other countries for race

·  ARDI is to monitor implementation of EU employment and equality legislation

·  Disaggregated data needs to be provided as definitions can give false statistics

·  What is needed is not new laws but application of the law

·  Glass ceiling - less than 10 members of the European Parliament are from an ethnic background.

·  Zwarte Piet- the government of the Netherlands acknowledges the practice contains negative stereotypes; dialogue that teaches people what is offensive about it should be fostered. Biekman responds that the government, courts and UN have already declared the custom criminal.

·  Action plan to be elaborated with ngos and civil society in EU; need for more inclusive Police & exchange with other member states

·  Need for national and international strategies, e.g. to ensure that implementation of EU standards are accountable in tackling racial profiling, access to justice, policing of BME communities, etc.

·  Education is important but we need to recognize it as an issue of human rights and equality

·  UN member states had pledged £5bn towards IDPAD over the Decade