Muslims in Europe face ever more racism and discrimination

FRA’s report ‘Being Muslim in the EU’ shows that racism, discrimination and harassment continue to be a daily reality for many Muslims living in the EU. 

Based on an EU-wide survey among immigrants and their children (2022), the report shows a surge in anti-Muslim racism since the last edition of the survey in 2016, most notably in the job and housing market. 

Looking at the five years before the survey, the key findings are: 

• Racism – nearly 1 in 2 Muslims (47%) experience racial discrimination, up from 39% in 2016. The highest rates in the 13 survey countries are in Austria (71%), Germany (68%) and Finland (63%). 
• Work – Muslims most often face discrimination when looking for work (39%) or in the workplace (35%), up from 31% and 23% in 2016. This has a knock-on effect on other areas of life, such as housing, education or healthcare. In addition, two in five (41%) are overqualified for their job compared to 22% of people generally.
• Housing - a third (35%) of respondents could not buy or rent a house because of discrimination, up from 22% in 2016. Muslim respondents with disabilities face even more barriers; 46% experience discrimination in the housing market.
• Religious clothing - women wearing religious clothing face more racial discrimination than those who do not, especially when looking for work (45% compared to 31%). This goes up to 58% for young women (16-24 years) wearing religious clothing.
• Racist harassment – almost 1 in 3 (27%) Muslim respondents were racially harassed in the five years before the survey; most of them more than once.
• Discriminatory profiling – almost half (49%) of those stopped by the police in the year before the survey thought their last stop was due to racial profiling.
• Education – Muslim respondents are three times more likely to leave school early, compared to the general EU population (30% compared to 9.6%).
• Poverty – A third (31%) of Muslim respondents’ households struggle to make ends meet compared to 19% households generally. They are twice as likely to live in overcrowded housing (40% vs. 17%). 

To tackle racism and discrimination effectively, FRA calls on the EU and its Member States to:

1. Focus on anti-Muslim racism - renew the EU anti-racism action plan beyond 2025 and include actions to specifically counter anti-Muslim racism.
2. Collect data - collect data on all grounds of discrimination to support better policymaking and develop benchmarks, targets and indicators for monitoring.
3. Enforce laws – properly enforce anti-discrimination laws as well as tougher sanctions for discrimination and hate crimes.
4. Resource equality bodies - implement the directives on binding standards for equality bodies. Ensure that equality bodies have the necessary mandates and sufficient resources to tackle discrimination effectively and independently. 
5. Combat discriminatory profiling – eradicate discriminatory institutional practices and cultures that lead to unlawful police profiling.
6. Tackle racism in all areas of life – this includes targeted efforts to combat racism in education, employment, housing and healthcare. 

Quote of FRA Director Sirpa Rautio: 

“We are witnessing a worrying surge in racism and discrimination against Muslims in Europe. This is fuelled by conflicts in the Middle East and made worse by the dehumanising anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent. Instead of sowing division in our societies, we need to ensure that everyone in the EU feels safe, included and respected, regardless of their skin colour, background or religion.” 

Background 

The report is part of FRA’s third EU-wide survey on the experiences of immigrants and their descendants. FRA has already published a first report on experiences of people of African descent, ‘Being Black in the EU’.

The ‘Being Muslim in the EU’ report is based on the experiences of 9,604 Muslim respondents in 13 EU countries: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden. 

The data were collected from October 2021 to October 2022, before the 7 October Hamas attacks against Israel and the war that ensued in Gaza. 

Earlier this year, FRA also published a survey on the experiences of Jews, highlighting that antisemitism is on the rise across Europe. 

For more, see the findings Q&A or contact: media@fra.europa.eu / Tel.: +43 1 580 30 653