Controversial traffic light officer Ataman presents discrimination report - and directly collects CDU criticism
Created: 08/17/2022, 10:06 am
Ferda Ataman at the presentation of the annual report of the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency.
© Wolfgang Kumm/dpa
The new anti-discrimination officer Ferda Ataman presented her first annual report.
Criticism comes from the opposition: Ataman himself is a "report case".
Berlin – Discrimination is still widespread in Germany according to the latest official data.
In the past year, the Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency received a total of 5,617 reports of cases related to one of the discrimination grounds specified in the Anti-Discrimination Act.
Most of these - 37 percent - were due to racial discrimination.
This is shown in the agency's annual report for 2021, which the new anti-discrimination officer Ferda Ataman presented in Berlin on Tuesday.
Compared to the previous year, when the anti-discrimination agency recorded 6383 cases, the reports fell by a good twelve percent.
However, this decline is “due to fewer inquiries in connection with the corona pandemic, especially about the obligation to wear masks,” it said.
According to the information, the number of requests for advice on all other forms of discrimination remained high.
“The number of cases of discrimination reported to us is alarming.
But it also shows that more and more people are not reconciled with discrimination and are looking for help," said the representative Ataman, who only took office in July after heated discussions.
She appealed to all people who experience exclusion due to different characteristics to take action - if necessary in court.
Shortly after the appointment, Ataman came back into focus personally.
Ferda Ataman presents annual report: Union is tough on commissioners - associations support them
The Union reiterated its criticism of Ataman.
The annual report shows that there are still major challenges in overcoming unjustified disadvantages, such as age, origin, gender, disability or sexual identity, said the domestic political spokesman for the Union faction, Alexander Throm (CDU).
However, by appointing Ataman as federal commissioner, the traffic light coalition had "done a disservice" to the issue of anti-discrimination.
The commissioner hides part of the spectrum of discrimination in Germany - "racism among migrants" and anti-Semitism as part of Islamist ideology.
Instead, she defames Germans without a migration background "as potatoes and racists".
Throm continued: "Ms. Ataman would rather be a report case for the federal anti-discrimination agency she heads." The Union had already heavily criticized the appointment of the journalist Ataman in advance.
On the other hand, she received support from associations that work against discrimination against migrants and their descendants.
(
dpa/fmü
)