Thank you very much for having me.
I hope you all can hear me okay.
I first want to thank
thank you for indeed, for inviting me to this very important event,
especially CLAIM alliance and the Competence Network
for the Prevention of Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hatred.
My name is indeed Michael Moua,
and I am the first EU anti-racism coordinator.
I've been working in this role
now for about a year and a half, and the
EU Anti-Racism Action Plan itself only recently
celebrated its two year anniversary
as of last September.
And as you might know, this action
plan against racism on the EU level came about
due to the aftershock of the murder of George Floyd in the US
at the hands of law enforcement and this action plan is quite ambitious.
It consists of comprehensive, horizontal and intersectional measures
to really step up the fight against racism and discrimination in the EU.
In addition to that, the Action Plan addresses
the fact that racism needs to be tackled at all levels of society.
Already today I have heard mentioned the governmental level,
the member state level, the civil society level, regional levels, etc..
This work really needs to be done together and should be addressed
in a holistic way in all different policy areas.
One of the main features of the EU Anti-Racism Action plan
is that the starting point is really structural racism.
This might seem like a small feat, but actually the fact
that this is the first time that structural racism
has been mentioned in a policy document
actually allows
the way that anti-racism policy work is done to shift
from on recognizing racism as something that happens
at an individual level to also understanding
its complexities and how it actually affects different areas of life.
So it's not a small thing that it's actually mentioned
and that the work that the commission is doing is based
on this fact.
we also know that structural racism
is the most dangerous type of racism
due to the silent mechanism and in which it operates.
This leads to everyday people affected by by racism
and racial discrimination, feeling the impact on their access,
for instance, to jobs, to health care, housing, financing,
more education, and even in some cases leading to violence.
It really is crucial to recognize that even though the power structures of racism
function in the same way, the manifestations of racism
can be different and policy needs to be built on that.
That's why the action plan actually recognizes
different forms of racism, from anti-black racism to anti-Gypsyism
anti-Asian racism, antisemitism, and of course and Muslim hatred.
Recognizing this can lead again
to more effective policy making.
Muslims or people perceived to be Muslims
are often exposed to risks of stigmatization
and discrimination in the context of security and anti-terrorism policies,
which not only may infringe on their fundamental rights,
but may also negatively impact on the trust that Muslim people
living in the EU have in democratic institutions.
This is clearly shown by research conducted in a number of member states
but also in the research and surveys
done by the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency.
Especially the one that focused on
Islamophobia of 2017.
For its implementation the EU Action Plan
against Racism, foresees strengthened participation of civil society.
Civil society has been mentioned quite a few times today
and it's one of the reasons we're here today, and the Commission
really is aware that the participation of civil society
people and groups, communities actually working with
and for racialized communities,
Muslim communities need to be part of the anti-racism work
and the implementation of the EU Anti-Racism Action Plan.
In order to take stock of the progress in the fight against racism,
next year we will again launch for the second time
a call for expression of interest for civil society organizations
that work on anti-racism across the EU.
We launched the
we have launched a permanent mechanism to meet regularly,
namely the Permanent Anti-Racism Civil Society Forum with who we work,
who we meet at least four times a year
and to ensure continued
collaboration and
to ensure that our work is truly informed in the implementation of the Action Plan
is truly informed by the collaboration with civil society
organizations.
And yeah,
just to mention that our next meeting with the Civil Society
Forum will actually be in January and for the first time in person
since the since the pandemic, we're finally meeting in person.
And with regards to hate speech and hate crime,
the Commission has a comprehensive toolbox to respond to it
at the EU level.
We have a mechanism
called the High Level Group on combating hate speech and hate crime,
and they have set standards and provided guidance on hate crime
and hate crime reporting,
hate crime training for law enforcement as well as hate crime victims support.
In addition, the
commission has put in place the code of conduct on countering
hate speech online to address the responsibilities by IT
companies to take action on hate speech content on their platforms.
In all of these policy strands, the role of civil society organizations is crucial.
They really have the ear to the ground
on how hate crime and hate speech manifests locally.
They are trusted by the victims oftentimes, and the communities,
and also they can help in the collection of data
and train law enforcement on specific grounds of hatred.
Civil society knows that.
It's closer to two
actually, the people that are experiencing
hate crime and hate speech.
And to add to also what
the previous speaker mentioned, indeed,
one of the main challenges is underreporting.
At one hand, we we need data to understand the state of play of equality.
But on the other hand, we understand that
there's a massive
phenomenon of underreporting when it comes to
discrimination in general, especially hate crime and hate speech.
So these are in a sense,
not very counter.
These are quite counterproductive in that sense.
In in 2022, under fraught leadership and with the contribution
of many national authorities and civil society organizations,
the Commission published a set of guiding
principles on the cooperation between civil society and law enforcement.
And this was to give some tools
to ensure better reporting support to victims
and training for law enforcement and justice professionals.
The more communities typically, the more communities feel marginalized,
the less we can expect their members to report episodes of hate
crime and hate speech.
And the more or less information we will have
about the true situation on the ground.
This is where it's crucial that organizations
from civil society themselves can offer such support and foster
reporting and support to the victims.
Yet recognizing the importance
of civil society should not be an alibi for authorities
or institutions to shy away from their own responsibilities.
It can be a one way avenue where where civil society are vaguely empowered
and in reality left without means resources to
offer the support they really can offer.
It has to be a true cooperation on equal footing.
This is something that has to be established to ensure
that civil society can operate in a safe environment
and also with the needed funds and other resources.
National authorities have to ensure adequate funding
and support to civil society undertaking this important work.
And here, EU funds also have an important role to play.
And I would encourage civil society to apply to the considerable
funding that the Commission actually makes available every year,
especially through the Citizens
Equality Rights and Values Program
for projects aiming to counter hate speech and hate crime.
And actually, a new dedicated call
with a focus on countering hate speech
and hate crime will be launched in 2023.
So keep your ears and eyes open.
I don't have an exact date yet, but this should be
in the first half of 2023.
In addition, the Commission strongly encourages Member States to develop
and adopt national Action Plans against racism and racial discrimination.
By the end of this year and this, we are also encouraging Member States
to do with close involvement of civil society and equality bodies
to support Member States in their efforts,
the Commission
established a subgroup of Member States
which elaborated common guiding principles
to support Member States in producing effective
national action plans against racism and racial discrimination.
And these guidelines were published in
March of this year.
So coming to data, which is one of the reasons
we are gathered here today, it's of course central in making and
I mean it's central and in many ways I mentioned it's central
in making visible the state of equality, really understand
what is at play.
But when it comes to issues such as institutional or structural racism,
it really also can make this seemingly
abstract phenomenon more concrete and visible
in a way that it kind of uncovers
patterns of discrimination,
which is indeed one of the aspects
of what structural racism in and of itself is.
And so here, reliable and comparable that data is crucial to understand
the reality of people suffering from discrimination all over the EU
and really assess their needs and address them effectively,
leading to more effective, also effective policymaking,
more effective legislation.
And this is why the commission really
is very much
has a stake in encouraging member states to move
towards a more comprehensive and harmonized approach
to equality data collection,
specifically disaggregated
equality, data collection, to ensure
that we would be able to better map the overall situation of
equality across the EU
through reliable and comparable data.
And always, of course, ensuring that
data protection legislation
and fundamental rights are adhered to.
And to this end, for instance, during my mandate, we have published a
the Commission has published guidelines
on how to collect data disaggregated
specifically based on racial or ethnic origin.
I'm aware that the federal government in Germany collects yearly data
on hate crime, including by breaking down information on the different grounds.
And the 2020 figures show that in spite of several lockdowns,
there have been more than two episodes of hate crime against Muslims per day.
Hate crime against Muslims
or people perceived to be Muslims is not the only manifestations
of anti-Muslim biases. There are consequences
in terms of discrimination and inequality, of access to employment,
housing, health and education.
And finally, let me recall
that the commission has had since 2015
a dedicated coordinator to combat
the racism of hatred and discrimination
faced by Muslims or people perceived as such in the EU.
And so, like myself, the European
Commission coordinator on anti-Muslim hatred acts as a point of contact
for the communities and civil society organizations
working in the field and
of course, we will also be
working closely with...
There are, just to mentioned that in addition
to myself and anti-Muslim hatred, there's also the anti-Semitism
coordinator and we all work quite closely together
in a way of of ensuring an intersectional approach.
And and I also want to mention
that an important workshop with equality bodies took place
just some weeks ago in Berlin, hosted by the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency
as a result to
this court, the anti-Muslim hatred coordinator's actions.
And even though the position of the coordinator has been vacant
for some time, where the commission is currently under the process of ensuring
that this position gets filled and
this recruitment process is unfortunately
an institution such as the commission are quite long.
But the process is currently ongoing
and I'm really looking forward to
finally having someone also in this position again
and being able to together move this work
forward in an intersection way
I mean, the fact is
that we certainly have big challenges ahead.
I mean, these are really trying times.
With times of crises such as we're living now
with the ongoing ongoing aggression of Russia and Ukraine,
we're just coming out of a pandemic,
there's the energy crisis.
This is truly fertile ground for
kind of far right sentiments.
I think that can be seen across the EU, really putting
people from racialized communities
such as Muslims in
danger.
And I think even though there are currently
we need to be very vigilant here and this work
that the commission is committed to, to ensuring
that we are working on anti-Muslim
hatred and anti racism, we're very committed to this work.
And even though there are these big challenges ahead of us,
I'm convinced that
the new anti-Muslim hatred coordinator, once this position
is filled and together with myself and other colleagues in the commission
working in the area of equality and specifically anti-racism
and anti-Muslim hatred, we will really strive together to improve
the upcoming years of the anti-racism movement in Europe.
I will stop here and thank you.
Thank you very much for your attention.
Vielen, vielen Dank Michaela
an dieser Stelle
jetzt ist
ob Sie, ob Ihr Fragen habt? Wir haben hier
Babrbara und Hanna die netterweise mit dem Mikrofon herumgehen und
Fragen einsammeln. Gibt es Anmerkungen, Bemerkungen an dieser Stelle?
Ich hab den Chat auch im Blick und wir schauen mal ob sich
hier irgendwas ansammelt.
Bitte, da gibt es eine Frage.
Ich darf auf deutsch fragen? Ja, Ja, garkein Problem.
Ja, erstmal vielen Dank
für die wirklich spannenden Einblicke. Jetzt auch auf der EU Ebene.
Ich würde gerne die Speakerin persönlich fragen,
wie Sie Ihre Arbeit eigentlich bewertet in Bezug
auf z.B. die europäischen Grenzregime Moria etc.
Stehen diese Dinge nicht im fundamentalen Widerspruch zur Installierung einer solchen
Stelle? Also wie geht sie damit in ihrem Alltag um?
Sieht sie da überhaupt Möglichkeiten in ihrer Position diese Dinge auch zu verändern?
Herzlichen Dank!
Michaela,
möchten Sie dazu gleich antworten?
Thank you very much
for this question. I,
I would just like to say that
I recognize that it's not
necessarily always clear from the outside how the work has been divided
in a sense in the commission
and just to speak on my mandate.
My mandate is really to work on the
internal like the anti-racism policy in the EU
and the borders are
the borders or the external aspect is actually not part of my mandate,
but it's with other colleagues in DG Home.
But of course that does not mean that we are not
I am not working closely with colleagues
that work on the border aspect
and to ensure that the anti-racism viewpoint
is taken into account also in the colleagues work.
And so this is, this is what I would say, that my mandate is a little bit
different in the sense that it covers the internal anti-racism work of the
commission of the EU and not the border area.
Gibt es eine weitere
Frage
Bitteschön.
Hello Michaela here
Daniel from the European Coalition of Cities Against Racism.
One question regarding the possibility
how the EU can put pressure on national governments,
putting on legislation, for example, banning
certain aspects of of religious freedom, of religious expression.
I remember, for example, a case we had in Grenoble in France,
where the city actually wanted to allow
the burkini in swimming pools.
And there was put pressure on, I think it was the regional government
then and to to ban again the burikini in the swimming pool.
So what kind of pressure can you, can the EU put on
national governments.
Thank you.
Thank you for this question.
Very relevant again and speaks to the intersections
of racism, racial discrimination, and also religious
discrimination on free,
discrimination on on religion
and the way that
the way that with legislation, you know, there are some areas
that are of the competence of the EU
and then some are left to the competence of the member states.
However, when the
when the discrimination is in an area
such as
that, the commission would have competence over,
then the commission would start infringement procedures.
So the infringement procedures of the Commission are
one of those mechanisms that we use
then to ensure that EU legislation
is correctly transposed into national legislation.
However, with
individual cases of discrimination,
these are again left to the member state
level, namely the
the equality bodies, for instance,
the equality bodies that work
with on cases of discrimination.
And the Commission itself does not
necessarily does not cannot
mediate into
individual instances of discrimination.
This is left to the member state level.
However, if there is a clear breach on EU legislation not to be incorrectly
transposed into national legislation, here is where we can start
infringement procedures.
And then again to go back to equality bodies, which I just mentioned,
which are an extremely important tool or an extremely important in the
sense that they can really be a key
in ensuring that people,
communities experiencing discrimination can reach their fundamental rights.
Therefore the Commission is currently in the finaliziung steps
of a legislative initiative on
standardizing
the way that
equality bodies mandate
their powers, their resources, etc.
across the EU. Because there is a quite a varying
array of equality bodies and
how much they actually are able to ensure that people and groups
experiencing discrimination are able to reach their rights.
So this is actually a legislative act
that is in the finalizing steps and should be adopted
by the end of this year to strengthen equality, bodies, mandate
and resources, as well as independence.
Herzlichen Dank.
Gibt es eine weitere Frage?
Hier
vorne
Dankeschön
Mein Namne ist Sabine Seib, ich bin Mitarbeiterin hier in Berlin bei
der Beratungsstelle für Opfer rechter, rassistischer und antisemitischer Gewalt
Reach Out. Und ich weiß es nicht ich möchte mich entschuldigen, falls
ich es überhört habe, aber inwiefern
beobachtet
Ihre Stelle auch eine weitere Form
des Rassismus, nämlich
des Anti-asiatischen Rassismus. Da haben wir bemerkt
seit Beginn der Pandemie, dass der, natürlich gab es diese Form von
Rassismus schon vorher, aber der wurde einfach
offener zum Ausdruck gebracht und sichtbarer
und wir beginnen nun bei uns auch diese Form von Rassismus zu erheben
und inwiefern spielt das auf EU Ebene eine Rolle?
Das wollte ich gerne wissen.
Very very good question.
So the
when the EU anti-racism action plan was adopted
anti-Asian racism is actually mentioned
in the communication.
Indeed because as we all know with the pandemic
the levels of anti-Muslim racism
not only in EU but globally exploded
which again I think goes to show the
fragility of racism
in the sense that it only takes a small virus
for something like anti-Asian racism to kind of explode.
Right.
And this is historically
what happens in times of crises.
And this was seen clearly with anti-Asian racism.
There as
you mentioned, there has not been, for instance, there is not much data
on the state of play of anti-Asian racism.
For instance, the EU Fundamental Rights Agency,
they collect
on a regular basis
data on the situation of
Roma, the situation of
anti-Semitism.
There has been survey on anti-black racism
being black in the EU, etc., but on the situation with the
Asian communities and in the EU, we don't have
this kind of data that we could actually refer to.
And here again, I do believe that civil society
would play a crucial role, kind of a bridge between
authorities and the government
in collecting such data I think would be very, very important.
And we have the
Permanent
Forum Civil Society forum that I mentioned, where we do
have actually as one of our recent members
an organization that is working
to combat anti-Asian racism.
So this is kind of our first introduction
in the commission to do this work.
And we are only getting started and and but indeed, I do think that
this work needs to gain ground
also to ensure that people experiencing people
and communities experiencing anti Asian racism can also
be protected.
Eine letzte Frage. Eine letzte Frage aus dem Chat.
Michela speaking in particular about the contribution of civil society,
especially in the context of anti Muslim racism.
This involvement is very deficient regarding the Muslim civil society, especially
religiously organized
Muslim civil society is racialised and stigmatized
by security discourses and corresponding institutions.
Keyword Contact Guilt.
So what can strategies and claims look like here?
This is a question from Malika Mansouri.
Just once again, let me reread the question, because I think
the micro I just heard the last part of it just one second.
Okay.
I'm not sure if I'm equipped so well
to answer this question, but I think here again,
something that
I think cannot be separated is racism
the racialization of Muslims
and also religious
discrimination based on the grounds of religion.
I think these are kind of all interlinked
and therefore intersect.
The intersectional approach, again, is is crucial.
We really cannot
look at any group, any any marginalized group
without an
intersectional lens because nobody,
not one group is just one thing.
So we
it the intersectional approach should always be taken into account
not only based on these different grounds, but also looking
at the socioeconomic aspect, education, etc.
There are so many grounds that need to be kind of
taken into account when looking at different communities.
There's in a sense, one.
I think another issue is
a lack of trust,
a lack of trust in institutions
not only by Muslim civil society,
but by in general civil society,
but especially the most marginalized.
And this is something the institutions authorities need to work on.
And there is an assumption that, you know, we are there for everybody.
Why don't they just come
when I think sometimes the question need to be needs to be changed
and and we need to think about like, what can we do
in our institution to make it visible that we
are for everybody
that we are trying to do this work to the best of our ability
and with understanding the specificities of different communities
and different organizations, a different grounds of
of discrimination
versus having this idea
of neutrality in that sense that, you know, but we are here for
everybody versus indeed kind of asking the question on how can we
increase trust with different communities.
And for us, for my work, for instance, this
permanent forum, Permanent
Civil Society forum is the first step
of trying to create a trust
between civil society and the European Commission,
because the truth is eventually that this work has to be done together.
That's the only way.
Okay, Thank you so much, Michaela.
I know this another question in this chat, but actually we have to go on.
Wir müssen ein wenig weiter machen. Und ich danke Michaela ganz herzlich
für die Ausführung an dieser Stelle.
Thank you.
Bye bye Wishing you a wonderful rest of the conference.
Thank you very much for having me.