Human Rights

Europe discriminates against Muslims: Amnesty International

Human rights groups say European countries are discriminating against Muslims, calling on institutions and governments to implement anti-discrimination laws.

In a new report released on Tuesday, the London-based human rights group Amnesty International said several European countries are discriminating against Muslims for practicing their faith.

The report highlighted national laws or local rules which target Islamic customs especially in the fields of employment, education and daily life including wearing headscarves or face-covering Islamic veils in countries such as France and Belgium.

“EU legislation prohibiting discrimination on the ground of religion or belief in the area of employment seems to be toothless across Europe, as we observe a higher rate of unemployment among Muslims,” says Marco Perolini, Amnesty International’s expert on discrimination.

The report also focused on the rise of political movements that target Muslims or Muslim practices — particularly in France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland.

“Muslim women are being denied jobs, and girls prevented from attending regular classes just because they wear traditional forms of dress, such as the headscarf; men can be dismissed for wearing beards associated with Islam,” adds Perolini.

Amnesty called on European governments to clear the negative stereotypes and prejudices against Islam, adding that “rather than countering these prejudices, political parties and public officials are all too often pandering to them in their quest for votes.”

This comes as some European officials and citizens have expressed anti-Islamic sentiment — also carrying out violent acts of religious extremism — against the growing Muslim population in the EU.

Last week, a member of Germany Chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative bloc, Volker Kauder, said Islam is not a part of the country’s tradition and identity and so does not belong in Germany.

In July, 2011, anti-Islam Christian fundamentalist Anders Behring Breivik admitted to committing “acts of terror” by slaughtering 77 people in Norway, the country’s worst massacre since World War II.

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