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Survey finds Muslims in Europe experiencing ‘worrying surge’ in racism

Thursday, 24 October 2024 2:58 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 24 October 2024 5:22 PM ]

Women vote during the first round of presidential election in Marseille, France, on April 10, 2022. (Photo by AP)

A survey has found a "worrying surge" in racism against Muslims in Europe following the Israeli regime's launch of a genocidal war against oppressed Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip.

The survey published on Thursday by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) found that nearly half of Muslims in Europe faced discrimination over the past five years.

The FRA report added that the situation was getting worse rapidly, particularly in the past year as violence escalated in West Asia, and "it was getting more difficult to be a Muslim in the EU."

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"We are aware of reports from several EU countries, highlighting a spike in anti-Muslim hatred," FRA spokeswoman Nicole Romain told French news agency AFP. However, even before the escalation, the FRA report suggests, "it was getting more difficult to be a Muslim in the EU".

"We are witnessing a worrying surge in racism and discrimination against Muslims in Europe," FRA director Sirpa Rautio said, adding, "This is fueled by conflicts in the Middle East and made worse by the dehumanizing anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent."

The survey, which was conducted before the Israeli regime launched its genocidal war on Gaza more than a year ago in early October 2023, involved more than a dozen EU countries where over 9,600 Muslims were interviewed between October 2021 and October 2022.

In the survey, the highest rate of Muslim discrimination was in Austria at 71 percent.

Germany, which hosts the largest Muslim population in Europe, was second at 68 percent, and Finland third at 63 percent.

France, which ranks second after neighboring Germany in the number of Muslims residing in the country, stood at 39 percent.

The FRA report added that people in Europe, women and children included, were targeted not just for their religious faith, but also for the color of their eyes, hair and skin, in addition to other bodily features.

"Muslim women, men and children are targeted not just because of their religion, but also because of their skin color and ethnic or immigrant background," FRA suggested in its report.

It noted that Muslims born in the EU and women wearing hijab religious clothing are particularly affected by discrimination including random police checks based on racial profiling and over-qualifying for jobs.

Twenty-six million Muslims live in the EU comprising more than 5 percent of the bloc's population of 448 million.

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