Anti-Muslim hate crime in UK hits record high

Charity Tell Mama says increase in reports has been fuelled by the war in Gaza and the 2024 riots in Britain

Riot police had to defend mosques across the UK during widespread disorder last summer. Getty Images

Britain's anti-Muslim hate crime monitor Tell Mama has recorded its highest number of reports since it was founded in 2011, with men being targeted more than women for the first time.

It has attributed the rise to the war in Gaza and last summer's riots in Britain, in which mosques were attacked and set on fire.

A total of 6,313 reports were made to the charity, up from 4,406 in 2023 and 2,651 in 2022. More than half of last year’s reports (3,680) were for offline or in-person hate, up by almost three quarters (72 per cent) since 2022, the organisation said.

Anti-migration protesters attacking a hotel housing asylum seekers in Rotherham last year. Getty Images

The most common places for offline hate last year were public areas such as streets or parks, making up four in 10 of all incidents, while one in 10 occurred in workplaces.

The latest report noted that “for the first time since its inception, offline cases of anti-Muslim hatred and Islamophobia in 2024 have targeted men more than women”.

Iman Atta, director of Tell Mama, said incidents were becoming increasingly more threatening. “We have had the largest volume of cases reported to us in Tell Mama in 2024 and since we started our work,” she said.

“The rise in anti-Muslim hate is unacceptable and this is deeply concerning for the future. We should never allow such hatred and intolerance to take root in our communities. We urge the public to stand together against hatred and extremism.”

She called on the UK government to take action to address it and to not use incendiary language.

“We are at a nexus point where it is clear that anti-Muslim hate needs co-ordinated action by the government. We urge those in positions of influence and public authority to consider how their language risks stereotyping communities, and how it unduly influences discussions online and offline.”

Since Tell Mama began recording crimes in 2011, more than 51,000 British Muslims have used its services and a 2,253 per cent increase in street-based incidents have been reported.

Since the outbreak of the war in Gaza, it has received the highest number of online anti-Muslim hate reports, with a 1,619 per cent increase from before October 7, 2023, the day the war started. This surged to 2,307 cases in 2024, most of which were reported after the summer riots.

X, formerly Twitter, was the main platform where anti-Muslim hate was reported to have taken place, with 991 cases. This was followed by TikTok (317), Facebook (201), Instagram (131), Snapchat (57), WhatsApp (41) and Telegram (10).

The organisation said there had been a “surge in rhetoric that falsely portrays Muslims as terrorists or terrorist sympathisers” since the Gaza war started and since last year's riots.

“The shift towards Muslim men being targeted more than women reflects the deepening impact of harmful stereotypes that fuel societal divisions and reinforces false notions about Muslim identities,” the report said. It added that it is “deeply concerned” about AI-generated anti-Muslim content.

Damage caused by riots in the UK – in pictures

• 

  Damage to the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, where windows were smashed and fires were started in demonstrations purportedly against asylum-seekers. PA

• 

  The interior of a tobacco and vapes shop which was ransacked after a night of violent disorder in the northern English city of Liverpool. EPA

• 

  A fire-damaged Citizen's Advice Bureau office in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, northern England. PA

• 

  Damage to the Spellow Hub community library in the northern English city of Liverpool. EPA

• 

  A man tries to clean up a supermarket damaged by fire on Donegall Road following anti-immigration protests in Belfast, Northern Ireland. AP

• 

  Damage to the Bash Cafe in south Belfast, which was burned during riots. PA

• 

  Damage at the Clumsy Swan pub in the east of the England Midlands city of Birmingham. PA

• 

  Police officers outside a damaged butcher's shop in Hartlepool, a seaside town in County Durham. PA

• 

  The Windsor Mini Mart in the English town of Southport, north of Liverpool, was looted. PA

Abusive behaviour remained the most common form of offline hate, accounting for slightly more than six in 10 (62 per cent) cases last year.

Other forms included assault, with 171 cases last year; discrimination, which accounted for 183 cases; and vandalism (209). Threatening behaviour increased more than any other incident, up from 121 reported incidents in 2023 to 518 in 2024.