International response to racial discrimination: potentials and limitations of the United Nations Race Convention

Abstract

Ethnic and racial minorities living in Europe are vulnerable to racial discrimination and harassment. This paper reviews the effectiveness of the international legal response to racial discrimination. Specifically, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Race Convention), the centrepiece of the international human rights treaty to combating racial discrimination, is discussed. We argue that the Convention is relevant since it contains comprehensive and legally standards to combat worldwide racial discrimination. It complements other international legal instruments such as the EU Race Directives, the Framework Convention and the Protocol 12 to the European Convention on Human Rights. International human rights treaties like the Race Convention would become toothless if they do not have active support from the civil society. Social workers across Europe ought to become active partners with the United Nations in advancing human rights of the racial minorities.