EU: The Roma are the ethnic group most vulnerable to racism in the EU, according to a report by the union's anti-racism agency.
Other groups discriminated against include migrant workers from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America, while Muslims in particular face challenging conditions in certain member states.
Ireland reported the biggest increase in racist attacks between 2001 and 2003, the report finds.
The European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia 2005 annual report says that the Roma minority, also known as Gypsies, faces severe discrimination in accessing housing, employment and education.
Romas are regularly the victims of racist attacks, says the agency, which notes that EU expansion in May 2004 changed the ethnic make-up of the bloc, adding large Roma groups in central European states such as Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia. "The particular histories and population characteristics of the new member states mean that the Roma and people from the former [Soviet Union] are often the targets of racist sentiments and acts," says the report, which also finds Travellers are among the groups worst affected by racism throughout the the EU.
"Far ahead in their structurally enforced exclusion are Roma and Travellers. For them exclusion from the labour market is the norm," says the report, which notes that in the new member states these groups account for virtually all reported racist incidents.
Ireland recorded the biggest increase in racist crimes in 2001-03 among the seven member states that kept adequate police records.
The report shows there were 81 incidents in the Republic with a racist motive reported to the Garda Síochána in 2003, of which 53 were crimes of violence. This compared to just 43 such incidents recorded in 2001, representing an increase of 88 per cent over the three-year period.
No figures are in the report for racist crimes in Ireland in 2004.
The Netherlands was the only other member state to show an increase in racist crimes during the same period, experiencing a 3 per cent jump.
The report also notes that there is a "serious problem" of racism and stereotyping in Irish schools and specifically mentions 12 cases taken by the Equality Authority on grounds of "race" with regard to access to education. It also highlights discrimination against the Traveller community in Ireland in access to housing.
Meanwhile, the report highlights an increase in racist attacks immediately after the Madrid train bombing and the murder of Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh in the Netherlands in 2004.