ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: Muslims in the European Union’s 25 member- States are facing an alarming rise in discrimination particularly following the September 11 attacks in the United States, says a report.

The report tilted ‘Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia’ which was released this month, and a copy of which has been obtained by Dawn, highlights the longstanding disadvantaged position of Muslims who constitute the second largest religious group and represent around 3.5 per cent of the total EU population.

The 115-page report produced by the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC) is a wake-up call for the EU and raises pointed questions about stereotypical generalisations, integration policies and severe paucity of adequate, reliable and objective data on Muslims. More importantly it draws attention towards the rise in Islamophobia and discrimination that European Muslims face in key areas of employment, education and housing.

Notably in December 2006 the Justice and Home Affairs Council of the European Union reached an agreement to declare EUMC as the EU agency for fundamental rights.

The well-researched report has drawn extensively on data available from official and unofficial sources till January 2006. According to the EUMC report the total Muslim population in the EU is around 13 million but with great variations between Member States. It points out that the demographic profile of the Muslim population is reportedly younger than the general population.

One of the key findings is: “Muslims are often victims of negative stereotyping, at times reinforced through negative or selective reporting in the media. In addition, they are vulnerable to manifestation of prejudice and hatred in the form of anything from verbal threats through physical attacks on people and property.”

In a telling foreword to the report, the EUMC director Beate Winkler says Muslims feel that since 9/11 they have been put under a general suspicion of terrorism and cautions: “Terrorism puts our democracy and fundamental principles to a test. Security measures are needed, but they must be weighed against their impact on all communities and their human rights implications…It is important that Muslim communities do not become double victims – first of terror attacks and then of policy responses to these attacks.”

The data contained in the report on anti-Muslim incidents based on official and unofficial sources (including NGOs and Muslim organisations) from ‘old’ EU 15 where the bulk of the EU’s Muslim population lives is quite an eye-opener. It shows there was a marked increase in ‘faith-hate’ incidents recorded by the London Metropolitan Police Service in the UK in the aftermath of the London bombings on July 7, 2005 compared with the same period in 2004. In the period July 4 to September 11, 2004 a total of 135 ‘faith-hate’ incidents were recorded but the number jumped to 486 in the corresponding period in 2005.

The Home Office British Crime Survey found Pakistanis and Bangladeshis consistently to be more at risk of being victim of racially motivated crimes than any other ethnic group surveyed. FAIR, UK’s leading NGO on Islamophobia, recorded in 2004-2005 over 50 cases of violence against Muslim property, including places of worship, over 100 cases of verbal threats and abusive behaviour aimed at members of the Muslim community. In France 131 such incidents were reported in 2004 and 65 in 2005.

In the Netherlands following the murder of Theo van Gogh, 106 violent anti-Muslim incidents were recorded in 28 days to 30 November 2004.

In Finland the 2005 Annual Police report noted that those born in a predominantly Muslim country made up 40 per cent of around 400 victims of racist crime during 2004.

In Spain 30 possibly Islamophobic incidents were reported in 16 months to May 2005. The NGOs also recorded a wide range of violent incidents against persons and property, with some perpetrated by public officials.

In Denmark in just under 10 months to 13 October 2005, 22 Islamophobic incidents were recorded and in Germany 13 incidents including violent attacks against businesses owned by Muslims and attacks on mosques as well as Islamophobic statements and campaign by public officials were recorded during the same period. In Greece four incidents of desecration of mosques and graveyards were recorded. In Ireland 14 anti-Muslim incidents were reported.

In Sweden in 2005 one assault and two attacks on a mosque and a Muslim property were reported and a mosque was vandalised. In Italy nine cases were reported.

However, the report maintains that the true extent and nature of discrimination and Islamophobic incidents against Muslim communities remains severely under-reported and under-documented in the EU.

“There is an absence of concrete official criminal justice data based specifically on Islamophobia incidents. The police and criminal justice data identifying – specifically – Muslim victims is absent in all but one EU Member State, the UK,” it points out.

Another significant finding of the EUMC is that Muslims, particularly young people face limited opportunities for social advancement and are subjected to social exclusion and discrimination. It notes that research and statistical data show that Muslims are often disproportionately represented in areas with poor housing conditions, their educational achievement falls below average and their unemployment rates are higher than average.

The report reveals migrants, including those from predominantly Muslim countries generally appear to suffer higher levels of homelessness, poorer quality housing conditions, poorer residential neighbourhood and comparatively greater vulnerability and insecurity in their housing status.

It observes: “Very serious housing problems include lack of access to basic facilities such as drinking water and toilets, significantly higher levels of overcrowding than for other households, and exploitation through higher comparative rents and purchase prices.”

In the area of employment the report points out differences in wages, type of employment and unemployment rates of migrants, of which a significant proportion belong to Muslim faith groups, indicate persistent exclusion, disadvantage and discrimination. It notes Muslim women face a ‘double’ discrimination in employment on account of their gender and religion.

“In most Member States Muslims tend to have low employment rates, e.g. Turks in Germany, North Africans in France, Bangladeshis and Pakistanis in the UK have employment activity rates that are 15 to 40 per cent below that of natives,” it reveals. In UK Muslims had the highest male unemployment rate at 13 per cent and the highest female unemployment rate at 18 per cent in 2004.

The report which is complemented by a study into ‘Perceptions of discrimination and Islamophobia’, based on in-depth interviews with members of Muslim communities in ten Member states with large Muslim population, states: “The interviews indicate that Islamophobia, discrimination, and socio-economic marginalisation have a primary role in generating disaffection and alienation.”

It mentions that an international survey covering Germany, Spain, Great Britain and France showed a negative picture of general public opinion towards Muslims with an overall decline in favourable opinions. It found that in Spain positive opinions of Muslims have declined sharply over the past year (from 46 to 29 per cent), and more modestly in Great Britain (from 72 to 63 per cent), while respondents in Germany and Spain expressed much more negative views of Muslims than in France and Great Britain.

The report refers to studies conducted by EUMC in several European countries between 2002 and 2005 that showed that Muslim migrants seem to be more vulnerable to experiencing discrimination than non-Muslims in some countries like Spain, Italy, the Netherlands and Portugal.

The EUMC report underscores the need for member states to develop, reinforce and evaluate policies aimed at delivering equality and non-discrimination for Muslim communities, particularly in the fields of employment, education and access to goods and services. Also, it identifies a number of areas where further initiatives could be taken including legislation, employment, education, the role of the media and the support of civil society. It calls for more engagement, dialogue, social inclusion and non-discrimination policies with encouragement from mainstream society.

Furthermore the EUMC urges the Member States and European institutions to introduce or make use of existing legislative and administrative provisions for positive action to combat Islamophobia and to foster integration and community cohesion.