Europe faces spiralling anti-Muslim hatred and religious intolerance

Council of Europe’s anti-racism commission lists four key challenges of the past year

A memorial of candles and flowers at the scene of a terrorist attack in Vienna, in November 2020. AFP

A "dangerous spiral" of anti-Muslim racism in the face of terrorism is among the key issues affecting Europe, a new report revealed.

The Council of Europe's anti-racism commission (ECRI) identified four key challenges facing Europe in its 2020 annual report published on Thursday.

It highlighted its concerns about Islamist extremism. Terrorist attacks in Europe in 2020 were likely to cause more intolerance against Muslims and lead to a "breeding ground" for radicalisation of the young and vulnerable.

"The resurgence of terrorist attacks by extremists against persons of different religions was another trend in 2020," it said.

"The brutal murder of a school teacher by an Islamist militant near Paris and the attack in a Roman Catholic Basilica in Nice in France, as well as the terrorist attack in the very centre of Vienna in Austria, caused public outcry and fed growing anxiety across Europe.

The disproportional impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on certain marginalised communities, deep-rooted racism in public life and the Black Lives Matter movement were major challenges during 2020, it said

"There is indeed a dangerous spiral of inter-related forms of racism developing.

"ECRI is concerned that these horrific murders will spark further intolerance and discrimination against Muslims. Anti-Muslim racism entails the risk of counteracting integration and inclusion efforts and may further radicalise a growing number of young Muslims in Europe.

"Real or perceived intolerance and discrimination against Muslims constitute the breeding ground for radicalisation among a few young Muslims, which is the breeding ground for further intolerance and discrimination against Muslims," it said.

"Although many European governments called on the public not to engage in general stigmatisation of Muslims, anti-Muslim sentiments that were already present in many countries were exacerbated further by the attacks by Islamist militants."

The report also criticised the police response to anti-Semitism in Europe as insufficient and said Jewish religious places, such as synagogues and cemeteries, were the main targets of vandalism.

“Jewish communities and institutions must not be made targets for opposition to Israeli government actions”, ECRI said.

Maria Daniella Marouda, chair of ECRI,  said the pandemic had generated a regression in human rights in Europe.

“Few, if any crises since the Second World War have had such a global impact on Europe as the Covid-19 pandemic, which came to overshadow other trends in 2020,” she said.

“From spreading anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the origin of the disease and targeting persons of Asian origin at the outbreak of the pandemic, to the subsequent lockdown and economic downturn hitting marginalised groups the hardest – the Covid-19 crisis has brought about overall regression in human rights in Europe.

“It has exposed and deepened underlying structural inequalities in almost all policy areas, including access to education, employment, housing and health care."

She said the situation of the Roma community had deteriorated most during the pandemic.

"They are often confined to overcrowded neighbourhoods with limited access to public utilities, where physical distancing and good hygiene are nearly impossible to maintain," she said.

"Distance learning measures excluded many Roma children from school due to lack of internet/computer access, the loss of social aid, which was conditional on the participation of children in home schooling in some countries has exacerbated the situation."

However, she welcomed moves by some nations to provide free electricity, water and internet connection to some Roma communities during lockdown.

The Black Lives Matter movement also highlighted institutional racism in Europe, the report said.

"These events have revealed the extent to which racial profiling and racist police abuse continue to affect vulnerable groups, reinforcing in Europe concerns of what is increasingly referred to as institutional racism,” Ms Marouda said.

"Such racism is covert or overt, and resides in the policies, procedures, operations and cultures of public and private institutions; it erodes trust in society and in the law enforcement.

"Increasing diversity within the police and adequate training should be at the core of any government action aimed at tackling the problem."

The report was published before the International Day against Racial Discrimination on Sunday.