There are 785 [Members of the European Parliament]. Of which only nine are non-white. Why is no one up in arms about it?....

With 785 representatives from 27 member countries and chambers in Brussels and Strasbourg, it is the world's only directly elected international chamber. It represents a more diverse range of people than almost any other - 492 million European citizens. It is also almost completely white.... There are just nine non-white MEPs here, 1.1% of the total....

Neena Gill was elected as a Labour MEP alongside Moraes eight years ago. She is the only Asian woman in parliament. "Nobody would believe me when I said, 'Britannique'. Only two nights ago I was at a function and this Belgian found it really hard to accept that I was an MEP because I was wearing a sari," she says. "I hear phrases such as, 'Madame Gill is wearing oriental costume.' When they realise you're Indian, people say, 'Why aren't you wearing that spot on your head?' It is the sort of thing that would have been said in Britain 35 years ago."....

The few non-white MEPs try to avoid being stereotyped as token experts on race or immigration. But it is a telling sign of their rarity that many are inundated with appeals from people in other countries who share their ethnicity or religion. As well as being the only Asian woman in parliament, Gill is the only Sikh too. She says she receives "almost weekly" calls from Sikh groups in Italy and France who are attacked because of "the turban issue". [Link]