Many black, Asian and minority ethnic men working in the Department for International Development claim to have experienced prejudice at work, including racist jokes and doubts about their legality as UK citizens. The government’s aid department has also been severely criticised for signing off an anti-sexual harassment campaign that portrayed BAME men following or restraining white women, in a report seen by the Guardian. The findings, including a survey of BAME staff and published in March this year, were uncovered as the department faces a merger with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The report, which was published on 21 March, the international day for the elimination of racial discrimination, was commissioned by Whitehall’s Race Network, which connects BAME staff. It focused on BAME men because their voices had been “silent’ in previous examinations of Dfid’s attitude towards race, the report said. Prejudice against black men in the department came to the fore last year after Dfid published two images that appeared to portray black, Asian and minority ethnic men as sexual predators, the report said. “Whilst black male voices have largely been silent on the issue of race, that changed in August 2019 when an image was posted on the front page of Insight [Dfid’s intranet] to publicise Dfid’s new sexual harassment guidance, showing a black male aggressor’s hand over [the hand of] a white woman,” it claimed. A few weeks later, another image warning of sexual harassment appeared again on the font page of the department’s magazine, this time showing a white woman being followed by a BAME man, prompting further anguish. “This time, the BAME male voice spoke up and was amplified by the RN co-chairs and champions to the very top of the organisation,” the report said. Entitled “Coloureds Need Not Apply: the experiences of black Asian and minority ethnic men in Dfid”, the report said 20 BAME male staff were approached and asked whether their ethnicity had affected them at work. A majority said they had direct negative experiences, ranging from subtle behaviours such as exclusions from networks to sustained discrimination that halted their careers. One member of staff, a British Asian man who has worked in Dfid for nine years, said he was expected to endure racist comments from white staff members when working overseas. “I remember being invited to a social occasion and the language used from Dfid colleagues became increasingly prejudiced towards local people and minorities in the UK including racist jokes,” he said. Another BAME staff member said his confidence and sense of Britishness was damaged while working overseas when his daughter was born and the UK authorities questioned his British status. “Unlike other white HCS [home civil servant] families in similar circumstances, our application for her British passport was rejected because HM Passport Office questioned the legality of my father’s entry to the UK (which he had done so legally) – but they would not accept the evidence we provided, instead insisting on a passport entry stamp from 40 years ago which we were unable to provide. This despite both my wife and I being born in the UK and [being] British diplomatic passport holders. “Dfid HR took a long time to intervene with considerable personal expense incurred on solicitors and not to mention the impact on our mental health as our daughter was rendered stateless and we were unable to visit family in the UK,” the man said. The report concludes that racism is endemic in Dfid’s headquarters and a network of offices abroad. “At best it is denying equal rights to BAME staff and at worst enabling toxic and hostile environments,” it says. “Whilst many BAME men reported a real commitment to the work of Dfid, they also reported feelings of fear, disillusionment, anger and damaging impacts on their confidence and mental health. “Almost all respondents felt that the organisations’ work on diversity and inclusion had little or no impact and some felt it was going backwards.” A department source claimed that since the report was published, the department had organised discussions with BAME men to determine possible changes and had created a working group to address racism and equality in the new Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO). A Dfid spokesperson said: “We will not tolerate any form of racism, discrimination or harassment. We have guidance in place for staff to report any such issues and robust policies for investigating them.”