New Study: Vulnerable EU Citizens are Subjected to Hate Crime – Many Cases go Unreported
More than half of the interviewed EU Citizens living in Malmö have been subjected to hate crimes in Sweden in the past year, according to a report published today by Skåne City Mission and Civil Rights Defenders.
During the seminar “How do we prevent hate crimes against Roma migrants in Malmö?” that we will held in Malmö this afternoon, Skåne City Mission and Civil Rights Defenders will present the results from a report that was produced during the spring.
Of the 96 people that participated in the study, 54 state that they have been subjected to hate crimes in Sweden during the last 12 months. The majority of those 54 people also claim that their Roma heritage was the underlying motive for the attacks. A large proportion also say that their main source of income – begging and recycling beverage cans – was a motive for the abuses they endured. Only seven of those 54 people have chosen to report the crimes to the police together with Skåne City Mission and Civil Rights Defenders.
The study and today’s seminar are part of a two-year project aimed at tackling hate crime against Roma EU migrants in Malmö. Funded by the EU, the project is conducted by Skåne City Mission and Civil Rights Defenders. It aims to increase awareness about hate crime, both among Roma EU migrants and the general public, and thereby make it easier for those who are subjected to hate crimes to report to the police. A mapping of hate crimes against Roma EU migrants will be conducted during the entire project, and the results presented here are preliminary.
Read a longer version of the article in Swedish here.
Read the report
* The contents of this project are the sole responsibility of Civil Rights Defenders and Skåne City Mission and do not reflect the opinion of the European Commission.
