By 32 percent

Increase in racist crimes in France

Demonstrators at a protest against racism in Paris(Bild: AFP )

There were significantly more registered racist crimes in France last year than in the previous year. With around 8,500 crimes and offenses, the number rose by 32 percent, as announced by the Ministry of the Interior in Paris on Wednesday. In addition, there were around 6400 racist offenses last year. Most frequently, people were racially insulted, provoked or defamed. There were also death threats and blackmail.

Physical violence and attacks occurred less frequently, but these cases also increased last year. In its statistics, the French Ministry of the Interior counts all reported crimes directed against someone's ethnicity, nation or religion. According to the ministry, attacks increased particularly at the end of the year. The increase can be observed from October, in a context of strong tensions in the Middle East.

People of African origin often the target of attacks
According to the ministry, people from African countries were particularly affected by racist acts last year. While they only made up four percent of the total population, they accounted for eleven percent of victims of racist attacks. According to the report, men and people between the ages of 25 and 54 were also disproportionately attacked.

A demonstrator holds a card with the slogan "touche pas à mon pote" (don't touch my friend) - the official slogan of the anti-racism organization SOS Racisme.(Bild: AFP )

High number of unreported racist acts
However, the ministry points to a survey which shows that only a fraction of all victims of racist violence actually report the crimes. In 2021, this figure was just four percent. According to the ministry, there are more women and more people of French nationality among the suspects for racist acts than among the suspects for all crimes.

The ministry did not provide any information on possible racist acts committed by the police. In the past, individual incidents in France have caused horror. Time and again, people have demonstrated against alleged racist police violence.