At DO, the ombudsman against Ethnic Discrimination, they say that cases of this type are interesting and they describe discrimination as different treatment for similar cases.
– We want to encourage those who are affected to turn in their own reports so we can look into it more closely. If the rent varies due to national or ethnical belonging it is a breach of the law, says Sonya Aho, press secretary at DO.
– The fact that this concerns exchange students doesn’t matter, she continues. When a matter is reported the case is investigated in detail to get the whole picture. As a part of this it is common to ask for a statement from the opponent where DO poses a certain amount of questions about the report. Then the DO takes position if the case is comprised by the legislation. If they find reason to suspect discrimination conciliation is initiated.
– If we cannot come to an agreement with the opponent the case may be taken to court after DO has sued the opponent, says Sonya Aho, who also tells us that a process can take anything between four months and up to two years.
Translation: Yvonne Tevström
