European report says discrimination against Muslims is growing

Half of Luxembourg’s Muslims said they experienced racism in the last year, and 60% in the past five years, according to a report by the European Agency for Fundamental Rights.

The report, released Thursday and based on data collected in 2021 and 2022, points out that all respondents to the survey in the Grand Duchy came from countries south of the Sahara, noting that discrimination based on skin color is also the key driver of racism in Luxembourg, the report said.

Almost four in ten Muslims in France and 53% in Belgium said they had experienced racism in the last five years. Muslims living in Austria and Germany claim to be particularly affected by discrimination, with 71% and 68% respectively saying they had experienced at least one act of discrimination in the last five years.

“It is increasingly difficult to be a Muslim in Europe,” the report based on a survey of 9,600 people in 13 EU member states said.

Half of European Muslims questioned said they confronted racism in their daily lives, compared with 39% in 2016, the year of the previous study.

Multiple difficulties

A quarter of the Muslims living in Luxembourg claim to have been discriminated against when renting or buying property. When it comes to healthcare, 28% of Muslims in Luxembourg reported discrimination over the last five years, putting the Grand Duchy behind only Austria (45%) and Germany (31%) in this category.

More than a third of Muslims in Luxembourg say they experienced harassment – 35% said they had been insulted, while 5% experienced physical violence. Half of Luxembourg Muslims believe their last police stop was due to racial profiling.

Confidence in the police is significantly lower among those who say they have been victims of racism (6.1/10) compared to those who have never been discriminated against (8.6/10).

These figures appear to be consistent with those of the Observatoire de l’Islamophobie au Luxembourg (OIL). In 2023, 23% of the 299 Muslims surveyed by the OIL said they had been direct victims of Islamophobic incidents, while 1% said they had been victims of violence because of their faith.

Measures for action

The EU should focus on racism against Muslims, which is “exacerbated by dehumanizing rhetoric across the continent”, rights agency president Sirpa Rautio said. Muslims are the EU’s second-largest religious group at 26 million, or 5% of the total population.

To improve the situation in Luxembourg, but more broadly at European level, the rights agency recommended strengthening anti-discrimination laws.

The agency also advised EU member states to introduce national action plans to combat racism. Luxembourg has already implemented this recommendation.

The agency also recommends targeted aid to improve the living conditions of Muslims, as well as their improved access to education and employment. Such measures also would improve access to affordable housing and reduce the school drop-out rate.

Source: Luxembourg Times