Racial Profiling in Trier: Discriminatory controls in focus!

Racial Profiling in Trier: Discriminatory controls in focus!

The heart of the city beats at the main train station in Trier, but it also becomes the scene of a sensitive issue: racial profiling. A man from Eritrea, who has lived in Germany for a decade, talks about his experiences with federal police checks. Despite his legal residence permit and completed training, he is often checked, especially in the cold winter months. “I have never had negative experiences with the federal police in ten years,” he says, “but I have the feeling that people who don’t look typically German are more often targeted.”

This statement is not an isolated case. The phenomenon of racial profiling is defined as controls based on external appearance without specific suspicion. The man reports about a check at the German-Luxembourg border, which is not an isolated case for many similarly affected people. According to the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency, such measures constitute discrimination and violate the Basic Law and international conventions, confirmed SWR.

Backgrounds and numbers

A look at the figures from the Expert Council for Integration and Migration shows a frightening picture: it surveyed 15,000 people and found that those who are perceived as foreign are checked twice as often. This finding raises questions about the effectiveness of controls and their application. The Federal Agency for Civic Education also addresses the issue and speaks of the need for further research to understand the causes of racial profiling.

The federal police themselves firmly reject the allegations and explain that checks are not exclusively aimed at people with non-European appearance. The Federal Ministry of the Interior emphasizes that discriminatory measures and racial profiling are illegal and should under no circumstances be tolerated. But the reality is often different, as the Multicultural Center Trier also reports: those affected are often hesitant to submit complaints.

Legal aspects and demands

But there are also legal steps that can be taken against such practices. In Rhineland-Palatinate, those affected by racial profiling can contact complaint offices, but so far there have been no proceedings before the Trier Administrative Court or the public prosecutor's office. A case from 2016 was even classified as illegal when the Rhineland-Palatinate Higher Administrative Court ruled that skin color was a decisive criterion for the control.

The Black People's Initiative in Germany is also active in the discussion about racial profiling and is calling for the abolition of controls independent of suspicion. Their goal is to draw attention to the negative effects of such practices on refugees and migrants in particular. Despite the legal framework, racial profiling remains a social and legal problem that cannot be ignored.

Overall, it is clear that the issue of racial profiling is deeply rooted in society's perception and needs a broader discussion to truly bring about change. Even if measures such as the introduction of control receipts are being discussed in the future, it remains to be seen whether and how such initiatives can actually achieve their goal.