LONDON: The United Kingdom (UK) recorded more than double the anti-Muslim hate cases in 2021 compared to those it logged in 2012, according to a new study.
The Independent quoted Tell Mama, which supports victims of Islamophobia, on Thursday to say that Islamophobic incidents had grown annually from 584 in 2012 to 1,212 in 2021. The organization monitors anti-Muslim sentiment across the UK.
It has provided support to victims of more than 16,000 cases of anti-Muslim hate since 2012, with more than 20,000 people filing reports in that period.
The organization noted that the Covid-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in online Islamophobia, as well as a “significant rise in neighbour-related disputes that turned anti-Muslim in nature.”
The UK’s lockdowns “acted as a bottleneck for household and neighbor-related cases,” Tell Mama said, and added 2020 saw 1,328 online and offline cases of anti-Muslim hate take place.
It said the highest frequency of offline Islamophobic incidents took place between 2016 and 2019, corresponding to “a cluster of terrorist attacks in the UK, the Christchurch terrorist attacks in New Zealand and to the Brexit referendum result.”
The “spike points” in anti-Muslim hate can be explained by the growth of the far right, a coarsening of political discourse and the activities of Daesh, Tell Mama said.
Tensions over the Israel-Palestine conflict in 2021 had also “once again spilled over into reports, with an increase of anti-Muslim cases,” it added.
The organization said well-publicized attacks against asylum-seekers and migrant facilities had also led to copycat crimes.
Iman Atta, Tell Mama director, said: “We have produced one of the most detailed studies in the UK with actual case numbers and classifications of anti-Muslim hate cases covering a decade from 2012-2022.
This is a decade worth of data from assisting, supporting and ensuring that British Muslims get access to justice.”
“We hope that this data inspires others to focus on this area of work and to bring to the awareness of many that anti-Muslim hate needs to be peacefully challenged, monitored and countered wherever it manifests itself.
“If we are to ensure a society where social cohesion is strengthened, then tackling anti-Muslim hatred is an important area of work that needs our collective effort.”
