Islamophobic hate crimes spike in UK amid rise of far-right: Research group
Britain has seen a rise in Islamophobic hate crimes against the backdrop of a tangible hike in the number of far-right politicians “in government,” says the UK-based research and advisory group Cordoba Foundation.
The group told Turkish news agency Anadolu anti-Muslim hate crimes rose 42% in England and Wales for the year ending March 2022.
Anas Altikriti, CEO of the foundation, said “there is a tangible rise in far-right and far-right groups that are now in government, only 15 years ago, were almost banished to the sidelines of societies.”
“They were not entities; they didn't really matter in any election or any. But now, less than two decades on, we see that many, throughout Europe and even here in the UK,” Altikriti said.
The remarks followed the publication of statistics on Thursday by the Home Office that showed Islamophobic hate crimes in England and Wales skyrocketed last year, with Muslims the most targeted group.
The number of religious hate crimes recorded by police that targeted Muslims was 3,459, a 42% increase since last year.
“The figures that came out today only go to confirm the actual feeling that is quite tangible and quite powerful throughout the Muslim community,” Altikriti said. “I think that the actual figures are far greater than what we saw,” he added. “The fact is that this is something that we've been warning about for more than a decade now.”
The European Islamophobia Report 2021, released in September, said the UK and France had become “the main spots of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobic incidents” across the continent. Islamophobia was “as pressing a problem” across Europe as it was in previous years.
“Furthermore, anti-Muslim campaigns of far-right parties in EU member States dominate the discrimination against Muslim individuals and communities,” the report said, associating the persistence of anti-Muslim racism with “the backdrop of a general worrisome trend: the decline of liberal democracy in Europe.”
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