Committee- The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)
Issue – Combating racism and discrimination against ethnic and religious minorities
Country – Kingdom of Sweden
Delegate – Pritha Singh
‘Wherever we see racism, we must condemn it without reservation, without hesitation, without
qualification.’- ANTÓNIO GUTERRES, United Nations Secretary-General. At present, racism is not
genetic or biological discrimination but more of social discrimination, its recent spread is due to fake
propagandas and political ideologies, social media and increasing COVID- 19(that resulted to racism
against East Asians). Racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia are among the most pressing issues
facing the world today. These issues are a violation of the fundamental human rights of individuals and
can lead to exclusion, inequality, and social unrest. Discrimination can have profound and long-lasting
consequences on individuals and society as a whole from mental and physical disorders to unemployment
and not being politically represented. Racism is not something of the present, it dates back to imperialism,
colonization, slave trades and excessive nationalism or chauvinism.
International measures to combat this issue began with the proclamation of The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights (UDHR) a milestone document by the United Nations General Assembly, Paris, 1948
as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time,
fundamental human rights to be universally protected, followed by the setup of International
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
The 21st century, being highly unpredictable, is home to 12 million refugees outside their country of
origin. 12 million of them have been displaced as outcomes of ongoing conflicts, terrorism and proxy
wars. An Increase in ethnic and racial diversity of societies is an inevitable consequence of migration,
which often leads to regions becoming more multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi religious and multi-lingual.
Political, legal, social and economic mechanisms need to be introduced to ensure mutual respect and to
mediate relations across differences in such regions. Such circumstances have been developed in the
country of Sweden, following the Syrian, Yemen and Ukraine war crisis. Sweden, being the country to
take the most refugees during the 2015 refugee crisis, has undertaken many legal reforms and outlined
strategies to combat racism and discrimination:
1. Discrimination Act, 2008 which prohibits both direct and indirect discrimination as well as
harassment in working life based on gender, gender identity or expression, ethnic origin, religion
or belief, disability, sexual orientation and age
2. As member of EU- Sweden has implemented Council Directives that include implementing the
principle of equality between people irrespective of their racial or ethnic background in its
legislation and establishing an overall structure for just treatment in employment and occupation.
3. The Swedish Criminal Code contains two provisions designed to combat racism that penalizes
the spreading of racial hatred, and the refusals to supply a service to a person due to their ethnic
origin. These provisions were adopted in the wake of Sweden's ratification in 1971 of the UN
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.
4. Establishment of the Swedish Equality Ombudsman- An independent Government agency
established on 1 January 2009, it’s tasked with the supervision of compliance with the
Discrimination Act and the promotion of equal rights and opportunities regardless of race,
gender, religion or belief.
5. The National Plan against Racism- With this National plan, the Government is taking a
comprehensive approach to eliminate common forms of racism - Afro phobia, anti-Semitism,
anti-Gypsyism, Islamophobia and racism against the Sami people. The Government uses these
terms in the sense of ideologies, opinions or values that express hostility towards Afro-Swedes,
Jews, Roma, Muslims or Sami.
Moreover, the Swedish Government introduced quotas for people with foreign backgrounds in public
sector jobs and conducts free health and language training camps for refugees in order to make them an
integral part of Sweden. The Swedish Media Council also implemented measures to combat spread of
online hate speech. Despite Sweden's efforts to combat racism, there are still challenges that need to be
addressed. The United Nations experts have raised concerns over general over-policing, surveillance, and
deprivation of liberty. Sweden needs to address these concerns and collect data disaggregated by race to
help address systemic biases. Sweden also needs to continue to implement measures to combat online
hate speech, the rise of right-wing extremism and the lack of diversity in certain sectors.
In order to combat racism, Sweden suggests that there should be curriculum development, community
engaging and mental health support systems. It is important to note that these solutions are ongoing
efforts and require continued commitment to creating a more inclusive and tolerant society, not only in
Sweden but globally.
