CONCERNS RAISED ABOUT STATUS AND TREATMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES AS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE TAKES UP REPORT FROM DENMARK
Press Release
RD/851
CONCERNS RAISED ABOUT STATUS AND TREATMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES AS ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE TAKES UP REPORT FROM DENMARK
19960304 GENEVA, 1 March (UN Information Service) -- Complaints about the status and treatment of ethnic minorities in Denmark were among the issues discussed this afternoon as the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination took up a report from that country.Committee members, examining how Denmark was implementing the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, asked a Danish Government delegation about information provided by the Danish Board for Ethnic Equality. Last year that Board had expressed regret that several ministries had given insufficient priority to measures needed to further ethnic equality and made a specific criticism of the Social Ministry.
Questions were also raised by Committee experts about higher unemployment among ethnic minorities in Denmark, which was three times the rate for Danish workers. Neo-Nazi activists in the country was also an area of concern raised by members.
Also today, the Committee elected Ivan Garvalov as its third Vice- Chairperson. His election completes the bureau, which is constituted as follows: Michael Parker Banton, Chairman; Eduardo Ferrero Costa and Shanti Sadiq Ali, Vice-Chairpersons; and Andrew Chigovera, Rapporteur
Discussion of Denmark Report
Introducing the report, OLE EGBERG MIKKELSEN (Denmark) said the Government was fully committed to the protection of all persons against racial discrimination. Evidence of this commitment was its recognition of the competence of the Committee to examine communications from groups or individuals, under Danish jurisdiction, alleging violations of the Convention.
The report updates the situation in Denmark since the last time the Government came before the Committee in 1990. It provides information on the establishment in 1993 of a Board for Ethnic Equality to combat racial discrimination; and a Committee on Employment Law, tasked with simplifying labour legislation. That panel would address issues such as the desirability of promulgating legislation to outlaw ethnic discrimination.
Committee member MICHAEL PARKER BANTON, country rapporteur for the report of Denmark, recalled that Denmark's Board for Ethnic Equality, in its first annual report, dated April 1995, had expressed regret that several ministries had given insufficient priority to measures needed to further ethnic equality and made a specific criticism of the Social Ministry. He asked the delegation to comment. Under the Convention, States parties undertook to encourage "integrationist multi-racial organizations and movements". Some States parties consulted such organizations when preparing their periodic reports. Had Denmark anything to report in this connection? One such group in Denmark, the Documentation and Advisory Centre on Racial Discrimination, had registered complaints of racial discrimination.
It was reported that the present Justice Minister had met the Council of Ethnic Minorities to devise a strategy for encouraging more migrants to seek entry to the police force, he said. Would the Government accept that it was desirable that the composition of all public agencies should, in the long term, reflect the ethnic composition of the local community? Mr. Banton recalled that in 1994, an inter-ministerial committee of the Danish Government had presented proposals for ameliorating conditions in "socially burdened" urban neighbourhoods. He asked for information on the implementation of recommendations concerning housing and education policy.
Regarding the prohibition of racial discrimination, the expert asked whether the Government was satisfied that its legislation was effective. That there had apparently been only three convictions in a six-year period during which there had been significant neo-Nazi activity cast doubt on its effectiveness. The recent amendment to make a racial motivation an aggravating feature of an offence was to be welcomed. The Danish intelligence service monitored three neo-Nazi organizations, he said. Within an 18-month period it had registered around 20 bomb cases, arson incidents and violent racist attacks. Did the difficulties mentioned in the report suggest that any legislative or administrative changes were needed to make the law properly effective?
As to article 5 of the Convention, was the Government satisfied that everyone in Denmark enjoyed equal treatment within the justice system without distinction as to race or ethnic origin? Some west European States had found that ethnic minorities were overrepresented in their prison populations and that the figures indicated that there might be a degree of racial discrimination in their justice systems. Did Denmark claim to be an exception? The Board for Ethnic Equality reported that it had followed many episodes in which the police had treated persons with a non-Danish background in an unacceptable manner, irrespective of their citizenship, he said. Was there training of police officers in the avoidance of racial discrimination?
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The various rights to work were of great importance, but hitherto, they had not in Danish law been adequately protected from racial discrimination, he indicated. The Board for Ethnic Equality had reported that unemployment among the ethnic minorities was three times as high as among Danish workers and that for some groups it was as high as 50 per cent. The Board stated that ethnic discrimination continued in the employment market with respect to recruitment to ordinary jobs and to training positions, and that governmental bodies did not set a good example. Was the right to housing protected against racial discrimination?
Concerning equality under the law, doubt was cast on the effectiveness of the measures reported to prevent support given to Nazi movements by some Danish youth, including their participation in Nazi demonstrations in Norway and Sweden. Since the last report of Denmark was finalized in 1989, Danish action against racial discrimination had advanced in major ways, including formulation by the Government of much more explicit measures, he noted. However, Danish policy was based on the assumption that "outright racial discrimination was rare compared to the kind of intolerance which springs from a general and often irrational fear of social change and of strangers", as the report put it. It would be interesting to hear if there was any empirical evidence to support this self-comforting proposition. The evidence indicated that the situation was more serious.
Several experts welcomed the establishment of the Board for Ethnic Equality in Denmark in 1993. One Committee member expressed concern over restrictions on family reunification. Another member said he had learned with satisfaction that foreigners residing in Denmark for at least three years could vote in local elections. What had been the reaction of other groups of the population to this? Denmark, nevertheless, enjoyed a deep-rooted democratic and humanitarian tradition. He requested information on the reasons for the higher infant mortality rate and lower life expectancy in Greenland compared to the Faroe Islands and the rest of Denmark.
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