Germany has problem with racial discrimination: official report

The number of reported cases of racial discrimination in Germany continued to increase in 2019, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency (ADS) said on Tuesday, reported Xinhua.

"Germany has an ongoing problem with racial discrimination and does not support victims consequently enough in enforcing the law," said Bernhard Franke, acting head of the ADS, while presenting the independent government body's annual report.

The agency took action in 3,580 such cases last year, a 3.6 percent increase compared to the previous year. Most reported discrimination offenses occurred in professional life as 36 percent of these cases involved employment or job search.

The number of requests for government advice on racial discrimination increased by almost 10 percent to 1,176 cases in 2019, according to the annual report.

"The feeling of being left alone with an injustice has fatal consequences in the long run, which also endanger social cohesion," stressed Franke. "Discrimination wears you down."

Following the recent violent death of the African American George Floyd during his arrest by police forces in the United States, tens of thousands of people across Germany took to the streets last weekend to protest against racism.

"2019 was a year in which hatred and group-focused misanthropy in particular left deep and painful traces" in Germany, wrote Franke in the annual report.

In June last year, local German politician Walter Luebcke was shot dead because of his liberal approach to the refugee crisis. Four months later, an armed man failed to enter a synagogue in a racist shooting attempt in the German city of Halle, which still left two people dead.

Aside from those prominent examples of hate, Franke stressed that discrimination was also present in "many small incidents" in everyday life in Germany.