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Almost half of people of African descent in the EU face racism and discrimination in their daily lives, an increase since 2016. Racist harassment and ethnic profiling are also common, especially for young people, a finding that stems from a new investigation by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).

FRA's second “Being Black in the EU” report highlights the experiences of people of African descent in the EU, showing that, despite binding anti-discrimination law in the EU since 2000 and significant policy developments since then, people of African descent continue to face racism, discrimination and hate crimes.

Most often, racial discrimination is more palpable while searching for work or accommodation. The FRA therefore calls on EU countries, among others, to:

a) properly enforce anti-discrimination legislation;

b) identify and record hate crimes, and consider bias motivation as an aggravating circumstance when determining penalties;

c) ensure that equality bodies have the necessary mandates and resources to tackle discrimination and support victims;

d) take steps to prevent and eradicate discriminatory institutional and cultural practices in law enforcement;

e) develop specific policies to address racism and racial discrimination in education, employment, housing and healthcare.

This report is part of FRA's third EU-wide survey on the experiences of immigrants and descendants of immigrants across the EU. It analyses the responses of over 6,700 people of African descent living in 13 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.

CES-UC has been producing knowledge on these issues, presenting conclusive research in order to draw a reliable picture of the situation in Portugal. For more information, see:

- Ana Rita Alves' book «Quando Ninguém Podia Ficar: Racismo, Habitação e Território» (Lisbon: Tigre de Papel), sought to establish how the relationship between the periphery, the right to housing, and race/racism in contemporary Portugal has been (re)built historically.

- «RAP | ‘Race’ and Africa in Portugal: a study on history textbooks», a research project coordinated by Marta Araújo, whose main objective was the interdisciplinary analysis of the (re)production of Eurocentrism in school history textbooks at Key Stage 3, taking into account the contexts of production, dissemination and consumption.

- «COMBAT | Combating racism in Portugal: an analysis of public policies and anti­discrimination law», a research project coordinated by Silvia Rodríguez Maeso sought to investigate how institutional racism is tackled or silenced in current public policy-making and anti-discrimination legal provision, particularly in the areas of education and housing.