In its annual report, published on Thursday 20 June by the Council of Europe, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) identifies the situation of people displaced by war and the rise in antisemitism and anti-Muslim racism linked to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East as the main challenges for 2023.
At a press conference, Switzerland’s Bertil Cottier, Professor Emeritus of Law at the University of Lausanne and Chair of ECRI, denounced the often electoral instrumentalisation of the “spectre“ of a “so-called Islamisation of societies”, and called for “self-regulation” by politicians and the media, who must “be accountable when red lines are crossed“.
ECRI is also alarmed by the sharp rise in antisemitism, with the number of cases reported in the last half of 2023 far exceeding those usually reported for an entire year.
“While criticism of Israel cannot be considered per se antisemitic, calling for the murder of Jews is”.
Even though “the dominant narratives about displaced Ukrainians were those of solidarity and support”, ECRI noted that “several anti-Ukrainian hate incidents were also reported” and generally denounced the “development of more hostile narratives about refugees”.
In addition, it was pointed out at the press conference that “significant differences” were observed between the reception of displaced persons from Ukraine and that of refugees from other countries and continents.
Link to the 2023 report: https://aeur.eu/f/cre (Original version in French by Véronique Leblanc)