30 June 2020
A new report from Amnesty International looks at how police forces across Europe have enforced lockdown restrictions - and finds that ethnic minorities and other marginalised groups have been disproportionately targeted.
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"Police enforcing COVID-19 lockdowns across Europe have disproportionately targeted ethnic minority and marginalized groups with violence, discriminatory identity checks, forced quarantines and fines, Amnesty International said in a new report - Policing the Pandemic - Human rights violations in the enforcement of COVID-19 measures in Europe.
Policing the pandemic covers 12 European countries and exposes a disturbing pattern of racial bias which is linked to concerns about institutional racism within police forces, and echoes wider concerns raised in the ongoing Black Lives Matter protests."
Issues raised include the discriminatory targeting of ethnic minorities, the enforcement of militarised quarantines on Roma settlements, the targeting of refugee and migrant camps placed under special regimes, and the imposition of fines on homeless people who are - obviously - unable to lock themselves away at home.
See: Europe: COVID-19 lockdowns expose racial bias and discrimination within police (Amnesty, link)
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