UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding observations on the combined twentieth to twenty-second periodic reports of Belgium, adopted on 29 April 2021, CERD/C/BEL/CO/20-22
Country
Belgium
Title
UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Concluding observations on the combined twentieth to twenty-second periodic reports of Belgium, adopted on 29 April 2021, CERD/C/BEL/CO/20-22
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Year
2021
Type of publication
Report
Geographical coverage
national
Area/location of interest
Not applicable - national level
Type of Institution
UN body
Institution
United Nations | Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
Main Thematic Focus
Racism & xenophobia
Target Population
Ethnic minorities Migrants Muslims
Key findings
Regarding the Muslim community, the Committee expressed concern about the lack of disaggregated data on racist hate crimes and hate speech, which would allow to identify specific cases of ethno-religious hatred, such as, among others, Islamophobia. The Committee was also concerned that the largest proportion of racist hate crimes in the State party are ethno-religious in nature.
The Committee further expressed concern about the increasing reports of racist hate speech, including antisemitic and Islamophobic speech, and the increasingly aggressive language on the Internet and social networks, including against migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.
Methodology (Qualitative/Quantitative and exact type used, questionnaires etc)
States parties submit regular reports to the Committee on the legislative, judicial, administrative or other measures they have adopted. Furthermore, civil society actors can submit “alternative” reports that serve to primarily help Committee members gain a more comprehensive picture of the human rights situation in a given country. Committee members are brief by civil society actors, before engaging in a constructive dialogue with the State party. The Concluding Observations are the result of the review process.
Sample details and representativeness
Concluding observations are analyses based on a great deal of information gathered mainly from UN mechanisms, the State itself and civil society organisations.
DISCLAIMERThe information presented here is collected under contract by the FRA's research network FRANET. The information and views contained do not necessarily reflect the views or the official position of the FRA.