A report published by the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI), calls have been made for the Government to commit to addressing the racism faced by black people from the UK’s African Caribbean communities, from both mental health services and the police.
The 83-page document, which examined the country’s human rights record on race relations, highlighted a number of concerns, including the treatment of black African groups, particularly in the area of mental health care, among the 23 recommendations that have been made to the Government. The report says: “ECRI is concerned about numerous reports indicating that people from Black African or Caribbean ethnic groups have the highest rate of contact with specialist mental health services.”
The document goes on to detail ECRI’s concerns over coercive treatment that black people are subject to when they come into contact with statutory mental health services, adding: “Allegations of discrimination by police and by the mental health services in relation to black people have been made and that high levels of coercion rather than care typify the Black African/Caribbean patient experience.”
The Commission makes clear recommendations to the Government reminding them of their duty to remedy this type of institutional racism that black people who are living in the UK face on a daily basis and states: “ECRI considers that the authorities should look into these allegations and review the treatment of black African and Caribbean people in the mental health care system.”