Gardaí accused of racial discrimination

GARDAÍ have been accused of racial discrimination following the release of EU research which found Sub-Saharan Africans are twice as likely to be subjected to police stops than other members of the public.

The European Union Minorities and Discrimination Survey found in a 12-month period 59% of Africans surveyed had been stopped at least once by gardaí. One in three eastern Europeans were stopped at least once in the same period. More than 1,000 Sub-Saharan Africans and eastern Europeans were surveyed.

The stop rate for Sub-Saharan Africans in Ireland was the highest for any ethnic minority surveyed in any of the 27 EU member states. Only members of the Roma in Greece experienced similarly high levels of police stops, with 56% stopped at least once in the pervious 12 months.