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Anti-Islam acts in France have increased by 52 per cent during 2020 compared with 2019, according to a human rights committee report issued on Friday.
This came in report No.30 on racism, anti-Semitism and xenophobia, released by the French National Consultative Committee on Human Rights (CNCDH).
The report pointed out that 59 per cent of respondents to an online survey conducted last March “consider Islam a threat to French identity.”
Meanwhile, 72 per cent of respondents expressed their belief that immigrants come to France only to benefit from social protection.
The report indicated a 22 per cent decrease in racist acts during 2020, with 888 racist incidents being recorded.
The report stated that anti-Semitic acts dropped by 51 per cent during 2020 compared with 2019, while anti-Islam acts increased by 52 per cent during the same period.
The report also revealed a noticeable increase in racist acts towards Asians, coinciding with the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The organisation also stressed in the statement that the statistics announced by the Ministry of the Interior constitute only a small part of the racist acts taking place in France, due to the absence of filed complaints regarding many attacks.