On May 2, The European Network Against Racism (ENAR) published a Shadow Report that focuses on racism and discrimination against migrants in Europe. It is clear from the report that racism plays a central role in migrants’ exclusion and violation of their rights. The paper contains data from 26 EU member countries. The data for Estonia was gathered by Anni Säär, legal expert at the Estonian Human Rights Center.
The report found that anti-migrant political discourses and exclusionary migration policies are having a disproportionate impact on racialised migrants. Another issue is the increasing support for far-right parties and organisations means that it sets the tone of the debate on immigration. Political narratives are reproduced in the mainstream and social media, which in turn contribute to increasing racist attitudes. Balanced reporting on the issue of migration can have a positive impact on community relations; however reports show that the mainstream media have been employed as an instrument to spread hatred and racism to unprecedented degrees.
Migrants are increasingly the targets of racist violence and speech. In many countries – for example Germany, UK and Greece – racist crime has significantly increased. Attacks on asylum seekers’ accomodation centers are frequent in various countries. Hereby it is important to note that a huge proportion of racist crimes go unreported.
Discriminatory policies and attitudes hinder migrants’ access to the labour market. This means a higher unemployment rate among migrants as well a the wage gap that affects especially racialised migrants.
After summer 2015 and the migration crisis, the number of fake news and hoaxes covered by the media has increased in several countries, including Estonia. Throughout the years, social media has become more important in spreading hate speech and racism. Fake ethnicity-related news about migrants with alarming and sensationalist headlines have become more frequent. Fake news is written and promoted by far-right websites, which use extensive networks of supporters to spread the fake news through social media.
Regarding the situation in Estonia, it is worth mentioning that in 2015, Estonia had the highest percentage of third country nationals (13,27% – two times the average of EU), but the lowest number of refugees. Another country in a similar situation was Latvia. Also, Estonia and Latvia cited a general lack of awareness of victims’ rights and victim support services among migrants. The lack of relevant information is a general problem in many countries.
On the positive side, Estonia’s integration approach “Integrating Estonia 2020” is pointed out as supporting the maintaining of Estonian nation, language and culture is maintained, as well as everyone’s right to their national identity. Furthermore, it states that no one should be discriminated on the basis of their nationality, race, colour of skin, sex, language, origin, religion, political or other opinions, social or pecuniary status or other circumstances.
The report also features good practices and recommendations for the EU institutions, as well as for the national and local governments. Implementing these shall improve integration instead of discrimination and guarantee equal treatment for everyone.
The ENAR Shadow Reports are produced to fill the gaps in the official and academic data, to offer an alternative to these data and to bring an NGO perspective on the realities of racism in the EU and its Member States. NGO reports are, by their nature, based on many sources of data, official, unofficial, academic and experiential. This allows access to information which, while sometimes not backed up by the rigours of academic standards, provides the vital perspective of those that either are or work directly with those affected by racism. It is this that gives NGO reports their added value, complementing academic and official reporting.
ENAR Shadow Report 2015-2016 “Racism and discrimination in the context of migration in Europe”
Key findings of the report
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