Police forces across the European Union have been accused of illegal "ethnic profiling" and discrimination after a survey found they were disproportionately stopping and searching members of various ethnic, religious and other minority groups.
Only 46 percent of respondents from minority groups said they were respected when police stopped them, the EU report found. It was published on the first anniversary of George Floyd's death.
People in Ireland among most likely in Europe to be stopped by police Survey by EU rights agency finds high acceptance for Garda in comparison to other forces
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Ireland has one of the highest rates of people being stopped by the police in the European Union in 2019, according to a new report. File photograph: Collins.
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Ireland has one of the highest rates of people being stopped by the police in the European Union, according to a survey by an EU rights body.
It was found that police across the countries surveyed â the 27 EU member states plus the UK and North Macedonia â most often stopped men, young people, minority ethnic people, Muslims or people who did not identify as heterosexual.
Officers searched or asked one in three minority ethnic people for their identity papers compared with 14% of the general population, defined as all groups surveyed. Four in five people in the general population said police treated them respectfully, compared with 46% from minority groups.
The agencyâs paper draws on findings from the FRAâs Fundamental Rights Survey (2020), EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey (2017) and its Roma and Travellers Survey (2020).
Police forces across Europe accused of ‘ethnic profiling’ when stopping and searching people
Police forces across the European Union have been accused of illegal “ethnic profiling” and discrimination after a survey found they were disproportionately stopping and searching members of various ethnic, religious and other minority groups.
A report published by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), an independent organization, has for the first time highlighted racial disparities in police stops across many EU countries.
The agency found that people from ethnic minorities, Muslims, those who do not identify as heterosexual, men and people aged 16 to 29 were being stopped and searched at disproportionately higher rates across the EU, it said in a press release on Tuesday.