One year after the start of the new anti-racism laws last September 1st, the Secretary of State for Citizenship and Equality said that, "Portugal is a country with manifestations of racism and xenophobia."
Rosa Monteiro pointed out in a review of progress, that there is still a lot of prejudice against the 'comunidade cigana' (gypsy community) and that it is necessary to know what’s going on in order to combat it.
The Secretary of State’s stark conclusion is backed up by the number of complaints presented to the Commission for Equality and Against Racial Discrimination.
From the beginning of the year to 29 August, the Commission received 206 complaints, 27 more than in the 12 months of 2017. This number is an increase of about 50% compared to 2016.
Rosa Monteiro argued that it is necessary to know the problem in order to combat it and pointed out that a 'European Social Survey' study show that Portugal is, "above the European average in terms of racism."
On the plus side of the equation, there is no openly xenophobic commentary from, for example, politicians, contrary to in many other countries, a situation she described as "very positive.”
The Secretary of State pointed out that it is interesting to see the main problem was ethnic and racial discrimination with many of the complaints presented by people or associations linked to the Roma community.
"We realise that there are many prejudices and a lot of ignorance regarding the gypsy people and their way of life and we know that ignorance generates prejudice and segregation," she said.
First equal on the discrimination complaints list were "gypsy ethnicity" and "black skin colour," followed by "Brazilian nationality."
More training is needed with the GNR and Police forces, and with the Directorate-General of Prison Services “so that they know the law," explained the Secretary of State who sees the complaints as a positive, "the revision and strengthening of the Commission’s resources was fundamental," and has resulted in an increase in the number of complaints.
