UK Muslims facing ‘explosion’ of hate attacks after Brexit: Report
British Muslims are facing an “explosion” in faith-based hate crimes, which will get much worse following the UK’s exit from the European Union (EU), a survey warns.
Tell MAMA, an anti-Muslim hate monitoring group based in London, said in its annual report on Monday that Islamphobic incidents in the UK increased by 326 percent last year, rising from 146 to 437 cases.
The survey also found that British Muslim women who wear hijab are now in such grave danger that they fear to conduct “day to day activities.”
The report showed that 61 percent of victims in the cases investigated by the organization were women, of whom at least 75 percent were identified as Muslim.
In one instance, a woman received a suspended jail sentence for abusing a pregnant Muslim woman on a bus in London last November, accusing her of being a supporter of Daesh (ISIL).
“We stand in unchartered territory”, said Shahid Malik, a former Labour minister who chairs the group. “The statistics paint a profoundly bleak picture of the explosion of anti-Muslim hate both online and on our streets, with visibly Muslim women being disproportionately targeted by cowardly hatemongers.”
According to Malik, the hike in the number of crimes shows that “as a society we are still failing far too many of our citizens.”
He also advised the government “to be under no illusions” as Brexit and the surging racism in the country can make things a lot worse for minorities.
“Failure to demonstrate the necessary maturity in leadership at this delicate moment in our history could have some significant and far-reaching consequences for us all,” Malik said.
The Tell MAMA report added that the largest proportion of incidents involved perpetrators aged between 13 and 18, indicating a “radicalization” of teenagers and their lack of understanding for multiculturalism.
In another shocking report, the Muslim Council of Britain said that over the weekend alone, it had recorded some 100 hate crimes against Muslims and their mosques across the UK.
“Our country is experiencing a political crisis which, I fear threatens the social peace,” said Dr. Shuja Shafi, secretary general of the council.
