Brussels, 22/04/2009 (Agence Europe) - Discrimination, harassment and violence of a racial nature are still more widespread in the European Union than the official statistics indicate, the Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) of the EU announced on Wednesday 22 April. Around 55% of the immigrants and members of ethnic minorities who took part in the survey, a total of 23,500 people, believe that discrimination based on ethnic origin is common in the country in which they live, and 37% of them said that they personally had been a victim of discrimination in the last 12 months, according to a survey of the EU on minorities and discrimination (EU-MIDIS) conducted by the FRA. Nearly 12% of respondents had been the victim of a racially-motivated crime in the last 12 months. "This investigation shows the actual scale of the plague of racist crimes and discrimination in the EU. The official racism figures only show the tip of the iceberg", said Morten Kjaerum, the director of the FRA. A report especially dedicated to the situation of the Roma, with an estimated population of 12 million people in the EU, shows that this minority suffers the highest rates of discrimination. Half of all respondents who were members of this minority said that they had been the victim of discrimination in the last 12 months. High levels of discrimination were also reported against sub-Saharan Africans (41%) and North Africans (36%). The vast majority of respondents, 82%, did not report the acts of which they have been victims to the police. "Thousands of racially-motivated crimes and cases of discrimination remain invisible. This means that those who commit them go unpunished and the situation is not redressed for the victims", stressed Mr Kjaerum. It is to be hoped that the information gathered in this latest investigation will make the political decision-makers aware of the need to create more targeted policies to remedy this social plague, he said. The study also shows that nearly 80% of respondents are unaware of the assistance which is available to those who have fallen victim to discrimination. Lastly, there is a strong sentiment of resignation among minorities and immigrants, who have little confidence in the mechanisms to protect victims. As a consequence, the FRA calls on governments and the EU to take a look at the facts and improve the situation by making it easier to report discriminatory behaviour and racist crimes, by fully applying anti-discrimination laws and improving information to minorities on their rights. The "EU-MIDIS" and "Data in brief - Report 1: the Roma" are available at: http: //fra.europa.eu/eu-midis (B.C./transl.fl)