According to a report recently published, more than 50% of Muslims living in the EU report experiencing daily discrimination, a situation that had already worsened before the “peak of hatred” triggered by the Hamas attacks on Israel.
The data gathered shows that it is “More and more difficult to be a Muslim in the EU”the representative of the European Union’s Organization for Fundamental Rights (FRA), Nicole Romain, told Agence France-Presse.
Of the 9,600 people surveyed between October 2021 and October 2022 in 13 EU countriesalmost one in two Muslims said that he faces racism in his daily lifecompared to 39% in 2016, when the previous study was conducted.
As of October 7, 2023, studies show “a peak of hatred against Muslims”fueled by conflict in the Middle East, Romaine adds.
In July, the Vienna-based EU body released a study on the “rising tide of anti-Semitism”.
Austria (71%) and Germany (68%) are the two countries in which they complain the most about being victims of racism. France is located in 39%while Spain and Sweden have the best results.
Especially in labor market and in looking for shelterthe research speaks of a “vertical rise” of discriminationwith women who wear clothing based on their religion being more exposed than those who don’t, as well as men.
According to this study, “Muslims are targeted not only because of their religion, but also because of the color of their skin and their ethnic or immigrant origins”.
“Nearly half believe their last arrest was due to racial profiling” and she was illegal, while she is “three times more likely than the general population to leave school early”.
In the face of these alarming conclusions, FRA recommends that the EU focus on tackling anti-Muslim racism, which “getting worse”according to the president of the organization Shirpa Rautio, “from a rhetoric of dehumanization that we observe across the continent”.
Muslims represent the second largest religious group in the EU and 26 million live on its territoryaccording to the most recent Pew Research Center estimates, dating from 2016, that is, they make up 5% of the total population. Most live in France and Germany.
This number “has increased significantly in recent years due to people fleeing conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria”is underlined in the report.
The first report of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights was accompanied by the creation by the European Commission of the post of coordinator of the fight against hatred against Muslims.
Source: www.enikos.gr
