Muslims across Europe are grappling with a “worrying rise” in racism fueled in part by “anti-Muslim rhetoric”, said the EU's main human rights agency, which recently published a survey that responded to half of Muslim respondents. . experienced discrimination.
A survey of 9,600 Muslims in 13 member states, published on Thursday by the European Union Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA), found that racism and discrimination are common threads in most aspects of their lives.
People reported that children were bullied at school and that there were inequalities and discrimination in access to job opportunities. Rental or purchase of houses.
Although the survey ended on October 7, 2023, before the Hamas attacks on Israel that led to brutal retaliation against Gaza, the Vienna-based agency, civil society organizations and reports from national authorities said the number of incidents against Muslims continued to increase. Since the conflict broke out.
“We are witnessing a worrying rise in racism and discrimination against Muslims in Europe,” said Sirba Routio, director of the agency. “This is fueled by the conflict in the Middle East and exacerbated by the inhumane anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent.”
After the October 7 attacks, authorities scrambled to contain a surge in hate crimes against the Muslim and Jewish communities, the first attempted arson at a synagogue in Berlin containing dozens of threatening letters and insults sent to councils and Muslim mosques in France.
The FRA spoke to Muslims in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and Sweden and found that 47% had experienced racism in the five years to 2022. 39% in 2016.
“We see that the situation for Muslims is getting worse,” said Vida Perezneviciute, co-author of the survey. “Living as a Muslim in the EU is becoming more complicated.”
Rates of reported discrimination appeared to be closely related to the rise of the far right. In Austria, the anti-immigration, Nazi-founded Freedom Party (FPÖ) recently emerged as the party with the most votes: 71% of Muslims reported having recently experienced racism. In neighboring Germany, the anti-immigration party Alternative Fuhrer Deutschland continues to receive 68% of people who say they are prejudiced.
In the 13 Member States surveyed, 39% of Muslims reported discrimination in the labor market and 41% said they worked in overqualified jobs.
A third of respondents (35%) said discrimination prevented them from buying or renting a home, up from 22% in 2016. “The purpose is huge.”
The effects of this racism were widespread and long-lasting. Muslims are 2.5 times more likely to live in poverty, be confined to overcrowded housing and have temporary contracts. Muslim respondents are three times more likely to drop out of school than the general population across the EU.
Berezneviciude spoke especially about the experiences of young Muslims. more than Half of European-born Muslims (55%) said they had been racially discriminated against when looking for work in the last five years and felt they were not treated the same despite having the same language skills and qualifications.
“It's terrible,” Berezneviciude said, noting that many Muslims reported “combined” discrimination because they felt attacked because of their religion, their skin color and their ethnic or immigrant background.
Women who wear religious clothing, such as veils, also report increased discrimination in the labor market. For women ages 16 to 24 who wear religious clothing, the discrimination rate increases to 58%.
Some appeared to find it beneficial to report their experiences, with 6% reporting that they had complained or made a complaint about a recent incident.
The FRA called on member states to implement stronger bans on discrimination and hate crimes, as well as collect data on equality, including on racial or ethnic origin, to help policymakers set better targets and monitor the progress. Unlike the UK, most EU countries do not collect census data on racial or ethnic diversity.
Thursday's survey follows a report last year that found nearly half of black people surveyed across the EU face discrimination and a July survey in which nearly all Jewish respondents reported recent experiences of anti-Semitism.
Taken together, the reports show that “racism and racial discrimination are a persistent phenomenon across the EU and must be addressed,” Berezneviciude said. “Without any special effort, it will not go away.”