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Data in Focus Report 2: Muslims

This EU-MIDIS report on Muslims provides data on how Muslims across the EU experience discrimination and victimisation. It covers Muslim respondents with diverse ethnic origins in 14 Member States.


Key Findings

Racist crime, harassment and discrimination grossly under-reported

1 in 3 Muslim respondents were discriminated against in the past 12 months and 11% experienced a racist crime. The highest levels of discrimination occurred in employment (when looking for work 18%; at work 13%), and in private services (at a bar restaurant, shop, by a landlord; total 14%). In comparison, of all ethnic groups surveyed within EU-MIDIS, 37% experienced discrimination, and 12% had been a victim of a racist crime.

Muslims aged 16-24 experience more discrimination in comparison with other age groups, with overall discrimination rates declining with age.

Discrimination and racist crime

Lower discrimination of Muslims with citizenship and longer period of residence

The length of stay in the country also affected levels of discrimination experienced. Those who have lived in a country for longer experienced less discrimination. On average 45% of those who lived in the country for 1-4 years experienced discrimination in contrast to 25% of those born in the country. 29% of youths aged 16-24 who are citizens of the Member States in question experienced discrimination, in contrast to 48% of youths who are not citizens.

On the whole, there are only small differences between Muslim men and women’s experiences of discrimination.

Overwhelming majority do not report their experiences of racism

On average, 79% of Muslim respondents, particularly youths, did not report their experiences of discrimination. This means that thousands of cases of discrimination and racist crime remain invisible, and are therefore not recorded in official complaints and criminal justice data collection mechanisms. People without citizenship and those who have lived in the country for the shortest period of time are less likely to report discrimination.

Regarding the reasons for not reporting incidents, 59% of Muslim respondents believe that ‘nothing would happen or change by reporting’, and 38% say that ‘it happens all the time’ and therefore they do not make the effort to report incidents.

reasons for not reporting incidents of discrimination

Vulnerable groups are not informed about their rights

This survey provides evidence that victims of racism in the EU are not informed about their rights. For example, only 41% of those Muslims surveyed knew that there is a law that forbids discrimination against people on the basis of their ethnicity when applying for a job. 80% did not know of any organisation that can offer support or advice to people who have been discriminated against. This demonstrates an urgent need for better information. In addition, this could reflect a real absence of support services in many Member States.

What can policy-makers do about this?

  • The data from this survey can be used as a basis for developing targeted and evidence-based policy responses. In particular, discrimination in employment and in services must be addressed, and sanctions agreed and applied.
  • The data also calls for the introduction of adequate mechanisms for reporting and recording discrimination and racist crime to enhance evidence-based policy development.
  • Invest resources to make those who are vulnerable to discrimination aware of where they can turn to for support and advice.
  • Allocate resources to organisations that are tasked with offering assistance to people who have been discriminated against.
  • Advise people on where and how to make complaints. Encourage those who have been discriminated against or harassed to report their experiences to a competent authority in the knowledge that their complaints will be taken seriously.

Ethnicity is the main reason for discrimination

Of those Muslim respondents who experienced discrimination in the past 12 months, the majority believed that this was mainly due to their ethnic background. Only 10% stated that they thought that the discrimination they experienced was based solely on their religion. However, 51% of Muslims compared to 20% of non-Muslim ethnic minorities surveyed believe that discrimination on grounds of religion or belief is “very” or “fairly” widespread.

Discrimination by ground or combination of grounds

Wearing traditional or religious clothing does not influence discrimination
Wearing traditional or religious clothing (such as a headscarf) does not appear to increase the likelihood of being discriminated against. This finding contradicts common assumptions about the negative impact of wearing traditional/religious clothing, such as headscarves.

What can policy-makers do about this?

  • Focus on implementing policies and follow-up mechanism that recognise the finding that ethnicity is the main ground for discrimination against Muslims – what does this mean for the policy debate?
  • Further investigate the link between citizenship and lower discrimination rates.

►Ethnic profiling widespread

The survey also asked questions about contact with law enforcement bodies, so as to identify possible experiences of discriminatory treatment. On average, 25% of Muslim respondents stated that they had been stopped by the police in the last 12 months. Of those who had been stopped, 40% considered that they were stopped on the basis of their ethnicity (‘ethnic profiling’). However, this differs greatly depending on the Member State and group. While most respondents in Italy and Spain believe that they were stopped because of their ethnicity, in Bulgaria, Slovenia and Luxembourg this was not the case.

Perception of profiling when stopped by the police (%)

What can policy-makers do about this?
Assess whether ethnic profiling by law enforcement, immigration, customs and border control effectively increases the identification of criminal activity, or whether it alienates and discriminates against Muslim communities?

Download

Data in Focus Report 2: Muslims (28/05/2009) EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_BG EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_DA EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_DE EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_EN EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_ES EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_FI EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_FR EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_IT EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_NL EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_SL EU-MIDIS_MUSLIMS_SV


News

Printed version available in English (EN). German (DE) and French (FR) will be available in 2010.

Event: 28-29/05/2009 Debating Islamophobia, Madrid (Spain)