E/CN.4/1996/72/Add.3 page 7 is a handicap for these young people, since their Black or Maghrebi appearance does not inspire confidence on the part of employers. Their family names (Muslim or African) and addresses (often in the so-called “trouble spot” suburbs) 5 are also obstacles to employment. 22. Discriminatory practices in employment seem to be becoming more widespread as a result of the economic crisis and the rise in xenophobia. The press publishes questionable announcements such as “White woman wanted to care for elderly lady”, “No persons of colour. Impossible” and “Position for 6 intern of French cultural origin”. Temporary employment agencies are said to use a discrete code in which the coded abbreviation “BBR” (“ bleu, blanc, rouge ”; blue, white, red) indicates that only white French persons need apply for a particular job. 7 Various other discriminatory pretexts are used by employers in order systematically to refuse employment to Blacks or 8 Maghrebis: “The fear of being unable to control such persons”, which takes the form of statements such as “I already have one Black on the job - I don't want two of them because then they become uncontrollable”; “Refusal by the other employees of a business to accept foreign persons or persons of colour”; “Hiring immigrants would harm the company's corporate image”; and “It's impossible to put the public or customers in contact with persons of colour”. 23. Such practices appear to be supported at the highest level, judging by a statement made by Mr. Michel Bon, Director of the National Employment Agency (ANPE), to justify the refusal to employ black check-out clerks in supermarkets: “Unfortunately, there are people with whom it's hard to feel on an equal footing ... and the darker the skin colour, the less equal we feel. 9 5 Ibid., p. 17. 6 Cited in “La France ne parvient pas à endiguer les discriminations raciales” ( Le Monde , 18 January 1995), p. 10. 7 Ibid. 8 See Maryse Tripier, Véronique de Rudder et François Vourc'h, “Les syndicats face aux nouvelles discriminations”, in Hommes et migrations , No. 1187 (May 1995), p. 19. 9 Ibid.