E/CN.4/1999/15 page 14 associations. The political and electoral platform has emphasized the migrants’ cost to society, yet has omitted their very important contributions in the cultural, scientific, technical, social and economic fields. 52. The anti-immigrant climate in various parts of the United States in recent years has made for more protection work by the 42 Mexican consulates in that country. Cases in which Mexicans in the United States have suffered from xenophobia and racism are on the increase. In some instances, the way in which these incidents occur makes it difficult to determine whether they involve outright racism or whether xenophobia is the issue. For protection purposes, what is important is to treat each case immediately and make the local authorities aware of the rise in xenophobia and racism; distinguishing between the two is of secondary importance. Consequently, it is difficult to give an exact figure for cases of xenophobia, but it can be said that hundreds of such cases come to the attention of the Mexican consulates in the United States every year. 53. In some cases of violation of the human rights of Mexicans in the United States, the acts in question have been accompanied by openly xenophobic attitudes on the part of the authorities. The authorities involved are generally members of the local police force who have erroneously interpreted the anti-immigrant climate and legislative changes as a national rejection of immigrants justifying such actions. However, there have also been more serious cases in which racist and xenophobic attitudes have become the basis for community policy in certain areas. G. Portugal 54. According to the Eurobarometer opinion survey on racism and xenophobia, conducted from 25 March to 29 April 1997 and published by the European Commission at the end of 1997, the Portuguese are the European Union nation who consider themselves to be the least racist: 58 per cent of Portuguese state that they are not racist, as opposed, for example, to 49 per cent of Spaniards, 42 per cent of Swedes, 17 per cent of Danes and 19 per cent of Belgians. Twenty-five per cent of Portuguese say they are not very racist, 14 fairly racist and 3 totally racist. 55. The following are the measures taken to combat social exclusion, racism and racial discrimination directed against immigrants and national ethnic minorities, especially the Gypsies, who are the main victims of racial discrimination: 1. Establishment of the Office of the High Commissioner for Immigration and Ethnic Minorities 56. The Office of the High Commissioner is a national body attached to the Office of the President of the Council of Ministers, which enjoys special authority through its direct relations with the Prime Minister. One of its responsibilities is to help ensure that all citizens legally residing in Portugal enjoy dignity and equal opportunity, with a view to eliminating discrimination and combating racism and xenophobia (Decree-Law 3-A/96 of 26 January 1998).