European Islamophobia Report 2017

The third issue of the annual European Islamophobia Report (EIR) consisting of an overall evaluation of Islamophobia in Europe in the year 2017 was published in April 2018. The report also included 33 country reports which included almost all EU member states and additional countries such as Russia and Norway. The EIR represented the work of 40 prominent scholars and civil society activists from various European countries.

Further information

The denial of the very existence of Islamophobia/anti-Muslim racism/anti-Muslim hate crime in Europe by many demonstrated, according to the editors, the need for an appropriate effort and political will to tackle this normalised racism and its manifestations that were deeply entrenched in European societies, institutions, and states.

This denial was not only the case for extremist groups on the political fringe of the society, but rather far-right discourses had moved to the centre of political power. Consequently, it was not only right-wing extremist groups that relied on the means of Islamophobic propaganda and discourse – social democrats, liberals, leftists or conservatives were not immune to this form of racism.

As a survey published by the FRA revealed 76% of Muslim respondents felt strongly attached to the country they lived in, while 31% of those seeking work had been discriminated against in the last five years. At the same time, only 12% of Muslims said they had reported cases of discrimination. Hence, the editors claimed that the extent of discrimination Muslims faced in Europe was much greater than the numbers revealed in any report on Islamophobia and anti-Muslim hate crime in Europe.

They claimed that all the available data and statistics about Islamophobia in Europe showed only the tip of the iceberg. Therefore, revealing the comprehensiveness of structural anti-Muslim racism laid at the heart of the European Islamophobia Report project, which on a yearly basis analyses the trends and developments in almost all states in Europe from Russia to Portugal, and Malta to Norway.

The European Islamophobia Report 2017 constituted an important source of knowledge for everybody – whether scholars or ordinary readers – interested in the development of racism and Islamophobia in Europe. Well-organised, complete and accessible, the EIR 2017 also represented a useful and valuable tool for any activist or policymaker who aims to tackle Islamophobia in a decisive manner.

Previous reports

+ European Islamophobia Report 2016
+ European Islamophobia Report 2015

See also the SETA Report published in 2018 Political engineering and the exclusion of religious conservative Muslims in Europe.

• Primary Source

SETA: European Studies http://www.setav.org/en/category/european-studies/

SETA: Report, 2018: Political engineering and the exclusion of religious conservative Muslims in Europe http://www.setav.org/en/report-political-engineering-and-the-exclusion-of-religious-conservative-muslims-in-europe/

Website: European Islamophobia Report http://www.islamophobiaeurope.com/

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