A/HRC/20/26/Add.1 immigrants are twice as likely to be unemployed as Austrians, and the community has the highest proportion of individuals at risk of poverty (more than 12 per cent). 64 82. The Independent Expert received information about the insufficient inclusion of migrants in schools and their ghettoization, as well as about the lack of opportunities for linguistic minorities, including those with hearing impairments, to acquire education in their own languages, thereby affecting their academic performance and future development. 83. A positive development in this regard is the “new middle school” concept introduced as a pilot project in 2008. This establishes “integrated schools” where children are educated together from the age of 10 to 14. After that, they can decide, like all other students after their first eight years of schooling, whether to move on to upper secondary education or start vocational training. The new middle school concept also aims at integrating disabled pupils. 65 84. A separate concern conveyed to the Independent Expert is that the history of Austria as a multi-ethnic State is not sufficiently included in school history textbooks, which also do not adequately integrate the history and culture of national minorities. 66 This hinders the ability of students to learn about the autochthonous practices and traditions of national minorities and impedes the inclusion of cultural diversity in the mainstream cultural life of Austria from an early age. The Independent Expert is concerned that history textbooks covering the Holocaust do not include information regarding the deportation of national minorities and the genocide of Roma people during the Nazi regime, virtually erasing their tragic experience from the annals of Austrian history. Guaranteeing cultural rights for all and promoting cultural diversity entails making visible the histories and contributions of all cultural communities to both the general population as well as the communities concerned. Media 85. Measures adopted by Austria to combat racism and stereotyping in the media include the incorporation of provisions prohibiting racial incitement in the Federal Act for Austrian Broadcasting. Nevertheless, interlocutors denounced numerous instances of discrimination and stereotyping in the media, including mention of the ethnic origin of alleged perpetrators of crimes from immigrant or minority backgrounds (particularly African or Roma), mainstream media references to “problems with foreigners” or the “threat of Islamization”. This type of media behaviour reinforces stigmatization and intolerance, and contributes to the creation of an atmosphere of hostility and rejection towards minorities and non-citizens in Austria.67 The independent press council appears to be inactive in addressing the issue of hate speech and discrimination in the media. 86. The Independent Expert is disturbed by some reported instances of hate speech by politicians, targeting members of minorities, migrants, asylum-seekers, refugees and persons of African origin. VI. Conclusions and recommendations 87. The Independent Expert is pleased to note that positive initiatives have been taken in Austria to ensure the realization of cultural rights. This includes measures to 64 65 66 67 Ibid. Ibid. See also ACFC/OP/III (2011)005, para. 99. See also ACCF/OP/II(2007=005, p.18., CommDH(2007)26, p. 14 and NGO Platform on Human Rights, Joint submission for the UPR session 2011, p. 4. 19