Portugal comes first on the list of European countries where the feeling of discrimination is higher. The data are part of an inquiry conducted by the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FR), a body specializing in human rights monitoring, and reveal that almost two thirds of Gypsy people inquired in the national territory said they had some episode of discrimination in the 12 months prior to the consultation.
Results above the European average
The study focused on ten European Union Member States and three countries in the process of adhesion. According to FRA, Portugal recorded 63% of affirmative responses, a value that places the country above Italy and Ireland. In the latter case, the numbers related to the nomadic communities have even higher percentages.
While in countries such as Greece and Serbia, the levels of discrimination decreased compared to 2021, the opposite trend in Portugal was verified.
The data represent an aggravation compared to the previous inquiry and a significant leap compared to 2016.
Smaller communities report fewer cases
The report draws attention to differences of perception depending on the social context in which each citizen lives.
In Portugal, as well as in Albania, Bulgaria, Chéquia and Serbia, those residing in areas with the lowest concentration of their community report less episodes of discrimination than those living in neighborhoods where most inhabitants shares the same origin.
Despite these variations, the agency points out that the trend remains stable in the whole of the countries analyzed: on average, about one third of the respondents declared to be discriminated against due to its ethnic origin.
Harassment and exclusion in the labor market
Numbers related to harassment also reveal high values. In Portugal, 48% of participants said they were the target of at least one such episode, a percentage close to that recorded in Italy and Ireland.
The most critical situation arises in the labor market. Seven out of ten people inquired in Portuguese territory reported discrimination in the search for employment. Only Ireland presented higher values, with more than eight in ten participants to identify similar difficulties.
According to, these results confirm that the negative tendency observed in 2021 cannot be explained only by the pandemic. On the contrary, they reveal a persistent pattern of exclusion that continues to mark the lives of thousands of citizens in Europe.
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