A/HRC/42/59/Add.3 10. Even though Belgium is convinced, as stated in the report, that challenges remain, it would like to recall some positive initiatives that have been taken. Such positive examples include amongst many others, the Flemish action program against discrimination on the private rental market, Flemish initiatives to improve the representation of people of African descent in the media (for example, the diversity policy of the Flemish public broadcaster VRT)1, a specific policy on equal opportunities in education, etc.. Another positive example given to the Working Group is the introduction by the Federal Government of “mystery calls”, a process involving the use of social inspectors who are now able to present themselves as job seekers or clients in the context of an employment relationship in order to investigate and establish offenses against the anti-discrimination law. The Federal Government has also created the possibility for the private sector to take positive measures in order to improve the employment rate of disadvantaged groups. Use of certain language 11. The report contains vague wording and subjective language, in particular when referring to the colonial past (for example ‘…colonial exploitations and atrocities in Africa continue to haunt people of African descent today’, wording like ‘it is believed that’…). 12. The fluidity of the Working Group’s definition of ‘African descent’ causes confusion in some parts of the report. For example, in §11 the Working Group explains that it was informed that “most Africans who migrated to Belgium in recent decades came from the former Belgian colonies in Africa Congo/Zaire, Rwanda and Burundi”. This is only correct when ‘African’ refers to ‘sub-Sahara African’, since most Africans who migrated to Belgium in recent decades came from Morocco, while in the recent years Belgium received a significant number of refugees from Eritrea and Guinee as well as increasing immigration from West African countries. In large cities like Antwerp these African nationals outnumber those originating from former colonies by far. 13. It should be noted that immigrants of African descent are not the only ones. They share challenges with immigrants from other continents. Notably Turkey, which is an important country of origin for many immigrants for several decades now and following the recent refugee crisis there is significant influx from refugees from the Middle East. III. Specific remarks on certain topics Statistics 14. Although statistics on so-called racial tracing are necessary to understand the issue and to take future initiatives, the requested statistics can only be produced in conformity with Belgian constitutional law, which is based on the principle of equality, and European Union legal requirements. It is in principle illegal in Belgium and in the EU to collect and analyse data on the ethnic or so-called racial background of citizens, even though some exceptions are foreseen. 15. As member of the European Union, Belgium has a long tradition of protection of private life and personal data. Data protection forms part of the rights protected under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to respect for private and family life, home and correspondence, and lays down the conditions under which restrictions of this right are permitted. The EU’s data protection standards are based on Council of Europe Convention 108, EU instruments – including the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 and the Data Protection Directive for Police and Criminal 1 The diversity policy of the Flemish public broadcaster VRT targets ‘New Flemish people’, including people of African descent. VRT successfully uses target figures in order to improve and enforce a nuanced, non-stereotypical representation in the media as well as to make their hiring practices more inclusive for people with a migration background. Finally, VRT regularly consults with civil society to address and tackle the remaining challenges mentioned in the report. 3