On Thursday 13 and Friday 14 March, the European Commission and the Council of Europe jointly organised the second coordination meeting on combating hatred and racism against Muslims, to mark the International Day to Combat Islamophobia on 15 March.
This meeting is taking place against the backdrop of a worrying rise in racism and discrimination against Muslims in EU countries, as shown by the latest findings of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency (https://aeur.eu/f/e02 ), according to which almost one in two Muslims has been a victim of racial discrimination in the last five years.
The two days of discussions - opened by the Commissioner for Home Affairs and Migration, Magnus Brunner - brought together a wide range of stakeholders, including representatives of the United Nations, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, as well as EU Member States.
The European Commissioner for Preparedness, Crisis Management and Equality, Hadja Lahbib, took part with a video message on Friday 14 March. On the same day, players from the media sector took part in an exchange of views on the issues surrounding anti-Muslim hatred and racism in the media.
In his introductory speech, the Deputy Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Bjørn Berge, outlined the scope of this multi-faceted discrimination: “Every time your name is enough to get you rejected for a job, every time you try to rent a flat and suddenly the price goes up or the ad disappears, every time your child comes home from school saying they’ve been made fun of for their appearance, their diet or their beliefs, justice, equality and democracy are at stake”.
To combat these realities, the participants identified a number of priorities, set out in a communiqué, such as stepping up data collection to better document hate crimes and discrimination, greater vigilance in the face of online hate speech, and strengthening legal protection against these acts.
Inter-faith dialogue was also advocated.
In addition, it was established that discrimination against Muslims should be viewed from an intersectional perspective, as prejudice can be intertwined “in areas such as employment”.
For Muslim women and girls, who face “unique challenges”, efforts must be stepped up to ensure they have equal access to education, the labour market, health, culture and sport.
Finally, the media and social networks were urged to take greater responsibility for ensuring compliance with “legal standards on hate speech, while respecting freedom of expression”. (Original version in French by Nithya Paquiry)