Senior European official challenges Portugal over racism

FILE - In this Wednesday, June 24, 2020 file photo, a woman wearing a face mask walks past workers washing the street in Lisbon's old center. A senior European human rights official is sounding the alarm about a rise in racism and discrimination in Portugal. The Council of Europes Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatovi, published a report Wednesday, March 24, 2021 into the increasing level of racism and the persistence of related discrimination in the southern European country. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File) (Armando Franca, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

LISBON – A senior European human rights official is sounding the alarm about a rise in racism and discrimination in Portugal.

The Council of Europe’s Commissioner for Human Rights, Dunja Mijatović, published a report Wednesday into ā€œthe increasing level of racism and the persistence of related discriminationā€ in the southern European country.

Recommended Videos



Mijatović singled out for special concern a rise in the number of racially motivated hate crimes and hate speech, and discrimination against Roma and those of African descent. She recommended that authorities take measures ā€œurgently.ā€

Mijatović also said she was ā€œdeeply concerned at reports of racially motivated police misconduct and allegations of infiltration of some segments of the police by far-right extremist movements.ā€

Those reports have come amid the emergence and rise of a two-year-old anti-immigrant populist party called Chega, which has moved into the political mainstream by gaining a seat in parliament and showing strongly in a recent presidential race.

One source of the current problems are ā€œbiased assumptions and stereotypesā€ that are part of the country’s colonial legacy, the Council of Europe report said, urging a review of how the history of the one-time Portuguese empire and its slave trade is taught in schools.

The Portuguese government acknowledged last year that racism had become a problem. It set up a committee last November to assess ways of addressing it, including the upcoming publication of a national plan to combat racism and discrimination for the period 2021-2025.

Authorities have also promised to launch later this year a public awareness campaign against racism and discrimination, as well as review police recruitment policies.


Loading...