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Muslims face 'worsening environment of hate' in UK

Report reveals that abuse, discrimination and the threat of violent assault have become a 'normal experience'.

Simon Hooper | 18 Nov 2015 07:28 GMT | Politics, Human Rights, Europe, United Kingdom



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According to a new report, Islamophobic attacks against the Muslim community in the UK are on the rise [Peter Dench/Getty Images]

London, United Kingdom - British government policies are fuelling a worsening "environment of hate" in which abuse, discrimination, and even the threat of violent assault have become the "normal experience and expectation" for Muslims living in the UK, according to the conclusions of a new report.



The study into the day-to-day experiences of British Muslims, carried out by the Islamic Human Rights Commission (IHRC), found a sharp rise in the number of people reporting verbal abuse and an increase in the number of physical attacks since the survey was last undertaken in 2010.



Two-thirds of the 1,800 people polled said they had been subjected to verbal abuse, up from 40 percent in 2010, while 82 percent said they had witnessed Islamophobia being directed at someone else, up from 50 percent. Reported cases of physical assault rose from 14 percent in 2010, to nearly 18 percent.





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"Muslims in the UK feel targeted by media and political institutions, which in their understanding contribute heavily towards a deteriorating climate of fear, a rise in far-right groups and a rise of anti-Muslim racism... Most Muslims now feel they are hated," the report says.



It cites examples of individual cases of discrimination, such as a Kuwaiti tourist who was detained and questioned under terrorism legislation for taking a 'selfie' of himself outside a shopping centre, and a woman working with children with autism who was told she could not wear a hijab because parents would not feel safe leaving their children with her.



'A police state in all but name'



But the report also highlights widespread opposition to government policies such as the controversial Prevent counter-extremism strategy and the new Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which the authors say have "created a police state in all but name", as well as growing sensitivity to anti-Muslim rhetoric used by politicians and in the media.



While just 34 percent believed in 2010 that government policies were having a negative impact on Muslim communities, that figure has now risen to 60 percent. Ninety-four percent also said they had encountered negative stereotypes of Muslims in the media, and 85 percent said they had heard politicians using Islamophobic language.



"It feels as if we have really gone over a tipping point and that is what is so worrying," Arzu Merali, one of the authors of the report, told Al Jazeera.



"We are seeing that the escalation of Prevent has been instrumental in this, and people feel in general that the security agenda is fuelling that. In the past people blamed the media, but now we're seeing a shift towards people saying it is about the government and its institutions as well."



The Prevent strategy, which was set up in the aftermath of the 2005 London bombings with the aim of tackling Islamic extremism, has long been a source of resentment among many British Muslims, with critics complaining that it sows mistrust of Muslims and subjects them to discriminatory levels of surveillance and harassment.



But under the current government, Prevent has been rolled out into schools, hospitals and other public sector institutions, with teachers, doctors and even childcare providers now required by law to monitor and report children, patients and colleagues who they suspect of holding extremist views, and to promote so-called "British values".



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The 'backbone' of Islamophobia



The Counter-Terrorism and Security Act, which became law earlier this year, has also bolstered the powers of the police and security services to curtail the freedoms of those deemed to be extremists.



In a series of high-profile speeches, David Cameron, the British prime minister, has repeatedly called on Muslim communities to do more to tackle extremism, even suggesting earlier this year that obeying the law was now no longer enough.



"For too long, we have been a passively tolerant society, saying to our citizens 'As long as you obey the law, we will leave you alone,'" Cameron said  in May. "This government will conclusively turn the page on this failed approach."



But, speaking at an event to launch the IHRC's report on Tuesday.