Muslims in Europe facing ‘sharp rise’ in racism and discrimination, EU report finds

Muslims are facing “ever more racism and discrimination” in Europe, the European Union’s leading rights agency has revealed, in a trend unrelated to Israel’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

According to a report by the EU’s Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) on Thursday, several of the bloc’s member states have reported “a sharp rise” in anti-Muslim sentiment and discrimination within their borders, with almost one in two Muslims in the EU reportedly facing such challenges in their daily life – an increase from 39 per cent that the same Agency found in its survey back in 2016.

Between October 2021 and October 2022, over 9,600 Muslims in 13 EU countries were surveyed by the FRA, with the highest rates of such anti-Muslim discrimination being recorded in Austria, Germany and Finland.

According to the findings, young Muslims born in the EU and women wearing religious clothing are particularly impacted by the rising discrimination, seen especially in the job market where two in five Muslims – or 41 per cent – are over-qualified for their job compared to 22 per cent of people overall.

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That hardship in being accepted into higher-level and higher-skilled jobs tends to have a “knock-on effect on other areas of life, such as housing, education or healthcare”, the report stated. The results of that include a third of Muslim households from the respondents struggling to make ends meet, compared to 19 per cent of households overall, as well as making those Muslim households twice as likely to live in overcrowded housing.

FRA’s Director, Sirpa Rautio, stated that “We are witnessing a worrying surge in racism and discrimination against Muslims in Europe”, clarifying that it “is fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East and made worse by the dehumanising anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent.”

Vida Beresnevičiūtė, a co-author of the survey, also acknowledged that the report proves “that the situation of Muslims is getting worse” and that “It’s getting more complicated to live as a Muslim in the EU.”