Universal Periodic Review

Develop a national action plan to combat acts of racial or religious hatred and its apology, in particular against minorities, migrants and asylum seekers and refugees

Proponent:

Remarks to progress by Liga (last modified Dec 31, 2024):

The 2020 EU Action Plan against Racism calls on the member states to draw up National Action Plans against Racism by the end of 2022. In Austria, the Federal Minister for Women, Family, Integration and Media in the Federal Chancellery is responsible for drawing up the National Action Plan against Racism and Discrimination. This National Action Plan is also anchored in the current government programme (EU Action Plan against Racism 2020: https://ec.europa.eu/migrant-integration/library-document/union-equality-eu-anti-racism-action-plan-2020-2025_en). Austria has also referred to the planned National Action Plan against Racism in various other recommendations regarding the implementation and promotion of measures to combat racism, discrimination, xenophobia and intolerance. This shows its particular importance. Contrary to this assurance and contrary to the agreement in the last government programme, no national action plan to combat racism was adopted and no significant other programmes in the area of anti-racism work were implemented, with the exception of the area of anti-Semitism.  According to the ZARA Racism Report 2023, people with migration experience, especially from African or Asian countries, are disproportionately affected by discrimination. This discrimination manifests itself in various areas of life, including the labour market, education and access to public services (see ZARA Report 2023: https://assets.zara.or.at/media/rassismusreport/ZARA_RassismusReport_2023_DE.pdf). The ECRI report by the Ombud for Equal Treatment emphasises that despite progress in the legal framework to combat discrimination, practical implementation is often inadequate. To meet these challenges, comprehensive measures are needed to promote equal treatment and combat racism. This includes both political initiatives and social efforts to raise awareness and education. A large number of measures have been taken since 2021 to combat all forms of antisemitism. A central coordination centre for the topic of anti-Semitism has been set up at the Federal Chancellery and a national strategy against anti-Semitism has been published (see https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/dam/jcr:8bd2975f-0483-4e74-abd9-d66446195d7c/antisemitismusstrategie.pdf). Even though the position has now been downgraded to a department in the Policy Section, it still exists in principle.   Two implementation reports are available (for 2021 and 2022). For the education sector, a strategy paper on the „Prevention of antisemitism through education“ was developed in 2022, which contains recommendations for the implementation of the National Strategy against Antisemitism for the Austrian education administration and teacher training institutions (see: https://oead.at/fileadmin/Dokumente/oead.at/KIM/Downloadcenter/OeAD_E.AT_Strategiepapier_FIN_01.pdf). These recommendations were discussed at the symposium on „Preventing antisemitism through education“ in September 2022. In 2022, the National Forum against Antisemitism was also established to pool knowledge, combat antisemitism and promote Jewish life in Austria. The body is made up of representatives from the federal government, the provinces, municipalities, social partners, academia, religious communities, Jewish museums and civil society. A working group on the documentation of anti-Semitic incidents was also established with the aim of learning from the experiences of other organisations that already document racist, anti-Semitic, etc. incidents. The aim is to learn from the experiences of other organisations already documenting racist, anti-Semitic incidents in order to set up an anti-Semitism documentation centre that meets current requirements.   Parliament also commissioned a study on anti-Semitism in Austria, which was presented in April 2023 (see https://www.parlament.gv.at/dokument/fachinfos/publikationen/Langbericht-Antisemitismus-2022-Oesterreichweite-Ergebnisse.pdf). While there are political strategies against anti-Semitism, there is no comparable approach to anti-Muslim racism. Instead, measures are taken that lead to prejudgements of people perceived as Muslim. The establishment of the Documentation Centre for Political Islam and Operation Luxor reinforce a general suspicion of Muslims and lead to people withdrawing from social discourse, a reduction in diversity of opinion and restrictions on participation. Freedom of opinion, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly can be restricted on the basis of membership of a particular group, which has a negative impact on basic democratic principles (website of the Federal Chancellery – Documentation Centre for Political Islam: https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/nachrichten-der-bundesregierung/2020/integrationsministerin-raab-dokumentationsstelle-politischer-islam-nimmt-arbeit-auf.html). Regarding hate speech on the internet, the Hate on the Net Act was introduced to help victims of online hate, including group-focused misanthropy (HiNBG see: https://www.ris.bka.gv.at/Dokumente/BgblAuth/BGBLA_2020_I_148/BGBLA_2020_I_148.html). The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities came into force in Austria on 1 July 1998. It aims to protect and promote the rights of national minorities and sets Europe-wide standards in this regard. In the current Resolution CM/ResCMN (2023)14 of the Committee of Ministers of 13 December 2023 (see: https://search.coe.int/cm#{%22CoEIdentifier%22:[%220900001680adcf6e%22],%22sort%22:[%22CoEValidationDate%20Descending%22]}), as well as in the Report of the Secretariat of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities of the Council of Europe of 16 October 2023 (see: https://rm.coe.int/5th-op-austria-de-full-version/1680ace87b) emphasises that Austria must continue its efforts to safeguard the rights of national minorities, but must expand them in key areas (see Resolution CM/ResCMN (2023) 14 of the Committee of Ministers of 13 December 2023: https://search.coe.int/cm#{%22CoEIdentifier%22:[%220900001680adcf6e%22],%22sort%22:[%22CoEValidationDate%20Descending%22]} ) which provides for immediate measures to protect ethnic groups.   While there are political strategies against anti-Semitism, there is no comparable approach to anti-Muslim racism. Instead, measures are taken that lead to prejudgements of people perceived as Muslim. The establishment of the Documentation Centre for Political Islam and Operation Luxor reinforce a general suspicion of Muslims and lead to people withdrawing from social discourse, a reduction in diversity of opinion and restrictions on participation. Freedom of opinion, freedom of the press, freedom of religion and freedom of assembly can be restricted on the basis of membership of a particular group, which has a negative impact on basic democratic principles (Website of the Federal Chancellery – Documentation Centre for Political Islam: https://www.bundeskanzleramt.gv.at/bundeskanzleramt/nachrichten-der-bundesregierung/2020/integrationsministerin-raab-dokumentationsstelle-politischer-islam-nimmt-arbeit-auf.html). Austria should step up its efforts to combat discrimination and hate speech against ethnic minorities, immigrants and refugees. It is crucial to provide additional resources for the prosecution of hate crimes while strengthening prevention. This applies in particular to combating discrimination against Muslims, Roma, people of African descent, refugees and migrants. The promotion of awareness campaigns and cooperation with civil society organisations are important elements in promoting an inclusive and tolerant society.  In recent years, there has been a tightening of immigration policy in Austria and an increasing harshness towards asylum seekers. This is reflected in legislative changes aimed at making access to asylum more difficult and facilitating the deportation of rejected asylum seekers. Another problem is the treatment of asylum seekers during the asylum procedure and in reception centres. There are currently reports of overcrowded accommodation, inadequate medical care and a lack of integration into the education system.