EXPERIENCES OF PERCEIVED
DISCRIMINATION
Feeling loss of social support and connectedness with
social networks may be exacerbated by the experience of
discrimination, which is a major determinant of people’s
well-being. There have been anecdotal reports in the news
and media of discrimination, stigmatization and xenopho‑
bia against refugees and migrants around the world since
the onset of the COVID‑19 pandemic. This section gives
some illustrative elucidation as to how refugees and mi‑
grants who participated in the survey perceived such dis‑
crimination and how COVID‑19 further impacted these ex‑
periences.
According to the survey such perceived discrimination
was particularly felt among the younger age groups (20–
29 years of age), where at least 30% of respondents felt that
they were treated less well because of their origin (Fig. 13).
Please also note that this was the two largest age groups
among the participants which might partially explain this
outcome.
Refugees and migrants living in a house or apartment and
in refugee camps were much less likely than others to re‑
port increased discrimination since the pandemic (Fig. 14).
People living on the street, in insecure accommodation
and in asylum centres particularly felt that they were treat‑
ed worse than before.
In the ApartTogether survey, respondents were asked
whether they were treated worse, the same or better than
before the pandemic. While it is positive to note that most
participants indicate that they were treated the same, a
significant proportion felt that discrimination had wors‑
ened in various ways (Fig. 12).
FIG. 12. Respondents identifying deterioration of perceived discrimination due to the COVID‑19 pandemic
80%
76,5
75,2
72,3
75,0
Percentage of responents on perceived discrimination
70%
65,8
64,3
60%
50%
40%
30%
27,0
23,2
22,1
17,4
20%
13,8
10%
16,4
12,5
11,0
8,7
7,2
6,1
5,5
0%
Treated differently
because of origin
Treated with
kindness
Called names
because of origin/
religion
Being avoided
Being anxious
about me
Unfair treatment
police
Types of discrimination
Worse than before Same as before Better than before
Note: data from a total of 19 009 respondents. 16 143 treated differently because of origin; 18 131 treated with kindness; 13 185 called names
because of origin/religion, 13 499 being avoided, 13 932 being anxious about me, 11 062 unfair treatment police.
18 | Experiences of perceived discrimination