According to the national Shadow Reports by NGO European network against racism, the collection of official data on the experience of migrants and minorities in Europe is scarce. “The lack of equality data on the ground of ethnic origin is rooted in Europe’s history of human rights violations against minorities,” – says the report.

 

    It means that the processing of personal data revealing ethnic origin is prohibited, but there are some exceptions. However, 21 (not including Denmark) from 28 member states have adopted a strict interpretation of the EU legislation which resulted in a significant data gap, and this, paradoxically – is an obstacle to the efficient combating racism.

 

Victims remain silent

 

    Katya Andrusz, the deputy spokesperson from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, sees one more reason for data gap: “The majority of victims don’t come forward to report their experiences. This means that the majority of racist crimes remain invisible, and the numbers we do have are only the tip of the iceberg”.

 

    People don't report racist crime to the authorities for a number of reasons, one being a fear of deportation, says Katya. "If you're an irregular migrant and you're attacked on the street, you may think twice before you go to the police because you're afraid the consequences might be worse than the assault itself."

 

Controversy in legislation

 

    The data gap can also be caused by violating the EU law.

 

    The Framework Decision on combating certain forms and expressions of racism and xenophobia by means of criminal law was adopted on 28 November 2008 by the EU Council. EU countries were obliged to transpose the Framework Decision into their national laws by 28 November 2010. But, according to the first implementation report made my EU Commission in January 2014, a number of Member States have not transposed fully and/or correctly all the provisions of the Framework Decision. It results in different interpretation of racism, different case decisions and misunderstanding, and, finally, lack of reporting.

 

Researchers' mistakes

 

    Mehmet Ümit Necef, Associate Professor in Middle East Studies, University of Southern Denmark, appeals to look at all data very critically. He states that it can be misleading because of the spread mistakes in surveys and researches.

He and his colleague looked at Danish researches between 1990 and 2010 which claim that Danes are racist. “People are worried about the amount of immigration, the way immigrants understand gender relations, women's and youth rights. But the researchers call these worries racism. So they mix up people`s worries with the concept of racism,” – he says.

 

    Another frequent mistake is a narrow interpretation of the interviews: “We criticized a researcher who made interviews with two Danes. They say in different ways that they would be worried if their daughters married a Muslim. The researcher claims that it's racism. But maybe these two men are worried about such things as: gender relations, women's rights, gender relations”.