People of African descent face multi-faceted racism in Australia: UN experts

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) - Africans and people of African descent are exposed to multi-faceted racial discrimination, xenophobia, and systemic racism “in all spheres of predominantly white Australia,” a UN working group of experts on people of African descent said on Wednesday.

At the end of a 10-day official visit to the country, the experts expressed serious concerns that in a multicultural country professing an inclusive national identity, "people of African descent face racial profiling, racial slurs, abuse of authority, over-policing, under protection, targeting, and violence."

The group, led by chair Catherine Namakula from Uganda, heard concerns about racist hate speech and the use of negative racial stereotypes by some politicians and the media.

They said research documenting the experience of young people in schools shows that many African Australians are exposed to racist bullying with no redress, the group said in a statement.

South Sudanese refugees reported high incarceration rates, indefinite detention, mental health concerns, and suicide in Australia, the statement said.

- ‘Banished indefinitely’

"Disproportionate numbers of people of African descent have been categorized as unlawful non-citizens and banished indefinitely from Australia's population to offshore and inland detention facilities," the experts said.

The working group found that Australia's indefinite detention under section 501 of its Migration Act presents grave human rights concerns.

The experts said that the concerns relate to due process, prior notice of collateral consequences, retroactive application, and its use in a “racialized, arbitrary and subjective nature.”

They recommend that the Australian government immediately end the practice of indefinite detention under Section 501, which is incompatible with international human rights law.

The experts said the experiences of people of African descent continue to be impacted by the country's settler-colonial past and its White Australia immigration policy, which was dropped in 1973.

They said the First Nations peoples still endure its legacy, including Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islanders, and South Sea Islanders.

"People of African descent experience a culture of denial of this racialized reality and the legacies of this via pervasive 'othering' in public spaces and entrenched disadvantage.

The Working Group visited Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Sydney.