Round Table “Combating racial discrimination and intolerance in Germany”
Organised by the Council of Europe’s European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) and the German Institute for Human Rights.
Description: How to change employers’ attitude towards people of immigrant background? How to better respond to racial discrimination and racist violence? What evaluation can be made of the National Integration Plan?
The ECRI round table examined these issues in three main sessions:
1) legislative and institutional framework on combating racial discrimination,
2) preventing and responding effectively to racism and
3) integration. Participants will also discuss the follow-up given to the recommendations contained in ECRI’s 2009 report on Germany.
The meeting was opened by Markus Löning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy and Humanitarian Aid of the Foreign Office, Dr Beate Rudolf, Director of the German Institute of Human Rights and Nils Muiznieks, Chair of ECRI.
It brought together representatives from the Federal and Länder authorities, academics, NGOs and trade unions.
In its fourth report on Germany, ECRI welcomed the introduction of anti-discrimination legislation and the development of a strong new focus on integration, aiming to help migrants participate fully in German society. ECRI also expressed its concern about persistant racist, xenophobic and antisemitic violence and discrimination faced by certain groups, in particular Muslims, Turks, black people as well as Roma and Sinti, particularly in education, housing and employment. ECRI also called on the authorities to ensure that language and naturalisation tests do not have counter-productive effect on integration.
