Muslim Findings Q & A

EU institutions seek to combat social exclusion and discrimination, as well as promote social justice and protection. They also recognise the need to promote free and pluralist societies as excluding religious communities or discriminating against them can lead to extremism.

Although Muslims are the second largest religious group in the EU, there is no systematic data collection on Muslim discrimination and racist victimisation in EU Member States.

The EU Agency for Fundamental Rights’ (FRA) surveys on ethnic minorities support EU policy makers with findings based on the most extensive dataset available on Muslims in the EU. Taken together, the survey findings and the recommendations support the effectiveness of a wide range of measures in the areas of integration and non-discrimination, as well as internal security.

The survey was based on face-to-face interviews in 2016 with over 25,000 people from different immigrant and ethnic minority groups in all 28 EU Member States. Of these, over 10,500 were people who self-identified as Muslim when asked about their religion.

The Muslims interviewed were 16 or older in Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the UK. They came from: Turkey; North Africa; Sub-Saharan Africa; and South Asia (in Cyprus, Asia). In addition, the Slovenian data refer to recent immigrants who immigrated to the EU in the past 10 years from non-EU countries.

All respondents were selected randomly and the survey results are representative for selected groups of Muslim immigrants born outside the EU (first generation) and for descendants of immigrants (second generation) with at least one parent born outside the EU. More detailed information can be found in the technical Q&A.

This survey builds on the first EU-MIDIS survey in 2008 which provided the first comparative evidence on discrimination against and crime victimisation of Muslims in 12 EU Member States.

Respondents were asked about their experiences of discrimination, crime victimisation (including hate crime), profiling and policing as well as rights awareness. They were also asked for information about civic and political participation, their personal situation and living conditions, as well as basic socio-demographic characteristics.

This report presents selected results for Muslims from the EU-MIDIS II survey. It covers: citizenship, trust and tolerance; discrimination and rights awareness; hate crime including harassment and violence; and police stops. An overview of the results for all the groups interviewed in the survey will be available in December 2017, accompanied by a comprehensive technical report.

• 76% of Muslim respondents feel strongly attached to their country of residence.
• 53% are citizens of their country of residence enjoying the full set of rights for nationals and EU citizens. However, 15% either have a residence permit for less than five years or no permit.
• Muslim respondents’ trust in public institutions is higher than the trust among the general population. On average, they have the highest trust in the police and the legal system, followed by the national parliament.
• Muslim respondents are generally open towards other people. For example, 92% said they are comfortable with neighbours of a different religious background.
• 48% indicate they would feel ‘totally comfortable’ with a family member marrying a non-Muslim person.
• However, respondents who have been victims of discrimination, harassment or violence because of their ethnic or immigrant background are considerably less attached to the survey country than those who have not.

• 39% felt discriminated against in the five years before the survey because of their ethnic or immigrant background in one or more areas of daily life – employment, education, housing, healthcare and when using public or private services.
• Those who felt discriminated against indicate that this happened, on average, at least five times a year, which shows that discrimination is a recurring experience.
• 53% of those who looked for housing and 44% of those who looked for work felt that they had been discriminated against because of their first or last names.
• 43% of those at work or 46% who were receiving healthcare felt discriminated against because of their skin colour or physical appearance.

• 35% of Muslim women who had felt discriminated against because of their ethnic or immigrant background when looking for work say it was because of way they dress.
• 39% of Muslim women who wear a headscarf or niqab in public were harassed, compared to 23% of women who do not.
• For men who at least sometimes wear traditional or religious clothing and were stopped by the police, 47% thought that they had been stopped because of their clothing.

• 31% do not know that they have, and can claim, a legal right to non-discrimination
• 72% did not know any organisations offering support to victims of discrimination. 65% did not recognise any of the equality bodies in their country.
• Only 4% of respondents who reported discrimination filed a complaint or reported the incident to one of their national Equality Bodies.

• 27% of Muslim respondents were harassed because of their ethnic or immigrant background in the year before the survey. Harassment covers offensive or threatening comments; threats of violence; offensive gestures or inappropriate staring; offensive or threatening emails or text messages (SMS); and offensive comments online.
• 45% of the harassment victims experienced six or more incidents of harassment, which they felt were motivated by their ethnic or immigrant background, in the year before the survey.
• Overall, 27% of Muslim respondents know of a family member or friend who was, in the year before the survey, insulted or called names because of their ethnic or immigrant background.

• 12% of Muslim respondents who felt discriminated against reported the incident.
• 9% reported hate-motivated harassment to a relevant authority or service.
• 23% reported hate crime attacks to the police or other organisation.
• This is consistent with findings of other victimisation surveys. FRA’s research has consistently shown that victims of hate crime – LGBTI people, Jews, women who have been victims of gender-based violence – are often reluctant to report incidents to the police.

• Respondents from North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa report the highest levels of discrimination based on ethnic or immigrant background (46% and 45% in the five years before the survey, respectively).
• Substantial differences in experiences of discrimination can be found between Muslims from certain countries and regions, and living in particular EU Member States. For example, Muslim respondents from North Africa are more likely to feel discriminated against in the Netherlands (49%), Italy (33%) and France (31%), and least likely so in Spain (20%). Comparing different groups within one country, the most striking difference was in Germany where 18% of Muslim respondents from Turkey felt discriminated against in the preceding 12 months, in contrast to 50% of those from Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Harassment due to their ethnic or immigrant background at least once in the 12 months before the survey ranges from almost half of all Muslim respondents from Sub-Saharan Africa in Germany (48%) and Finland (45%), to 13% to 14% of Muslim respondents from Sub-Saharan Africa in the United Kingdom and Malta, respectively.

• 16% of Muslim respondents were stopped by the police in the year before the survey.
• Of those who had been stopped, 42% believe it was because of their immigrant or ethnic minority background.
• Muslim respondents from North and Sub-Saharan Africa indicate being stopped by the police more frequently than other Muslim groups surveyed.
• Police appear to stop Muslim men (45%) more often than Muslim women (12%).
• 60% of Muslim respondents who were stopped by the police during the past five years before the survey, say that they were treated respectfully.
• 81% who reported a physical assault to the police were dissatisfied with the police’s handling of the matter.

• The findings show that many Muslims continue to face discrimination.
• Some 17% of Muslim respondents indicate having felt discriminated against on grounds of religion or religious belief in the five years before the survey, compared with 10% in EU-MIDIS I in 2008.
• Both surveys found that Muslim respondents from North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa experience the highest levels of discrimination.
• Non-reporting of discrimination and a lack of awareness of organisations to turn to also remain issues.

• Taking legal action to combat ethnic and religious discrimination and hate crime in all areas of life such as employment, housing and healthcare.
• Supporting outreach activities to work with Muslim communities to, for example reinforce trust in the police, and to better address the needs of Muslim victims of hate crime, particularly women.
• Further strengthening Muslims’ sense of belonging by actively involving them in consultations and decision making, and by bringing local communities closer through sports and housing associations etc.
• Strengthen equality bodies and raise awareness of anti-discrimination laws and redress possibilities, targeting particularly groups more likely to be victims of discrimination, such as Muslims.
• Address the issue of discriminatory stops on Muslims to foster trust in law enforcement through Police training, together with community policing.