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Freedom of religion, antisemitism and Islamophobia discussed at Council

The FRA Director joined other high-level panellists in discussing freedom of religion, antisemitism and Islamophobia during a joint meeting of the Council’s Working Parties on Human Rights (COHOM) and on Fundamental Rights, Citizens Rights and Free Movement of Persons (FREMP).

The Director stressed the value of looking upon the topic from both the internal European and the external dimension. The Agency’s work on Jewish and Muslim people’s experiences of hate crime and discrimination in the EU was repeatedly referred to during the discussion.

The Director highlighted how women are often more affected than men, suffering from multiple discrimination of being female and wearing religious symbols.

He has also shared examples of promising practices that FRA has collected that could contribute to efforts to tackle such phenomena more effectively. He further stressed the need to bring perpetrators to justice and ensure victims of crimes have access to justice.

The meeting took place in Brussels on 13 June.