Anti-Muslim prejudice hinders integration - Council of Europe Commissioner

"Muslims in Europe want to interact with other Europeans and participate as full and equal members of society, but regularly face various forms of prejudice, discrimination and violence that reinforce their social exclusion," the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights, Nils Muižnieks, said in statement. "This is the conclusion of recent research by various international organisations and NGOs. Unfortunately, commentators on the Arab Spring missed the historic opportunity to deconstruct harmful stereotypes about the alleged incompatibility of Islam and democracy, instead exaggerating the risk of migration to Europe

"Muslims have become the primary “other” in right-wing populist discourse in Europe. Political parties in Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway and Switzerland have employed anti-Muslim rhetoric for political gain. Politicians frequently refer to Muslims when discussing the alleged “failure of multiculturalism”. However, multiculturalism as a strategy of promoting intercultural dialogue while at the same time preserving cultural identities has hardly been tried in most countries," the statement reads.

"Some mainstream parties have exploited anti-Muslim sentiment by supporting restrictive legislative measures that target Muslims. Since 2011, Belgium and France have enacted laws subjecting women who wear full face veils to fines or “citizenship training”. In Italy, some local authorities have resorted to an old anti-terrorist law against concealing the face for security reasons to punish women with full-face veils. Similar initiatives have been discussed in Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland."

"Governments should stop targeting Muslims through legislation or policy, and instead enshrine the ground of religion or belief as a prohibited ground of discrimination in all realms. They should also empower independent equality bodies or ombudsmen to review complaints, provide legal assistance and representation in court, provide policy advice and conduct research on discrimination against Muslims and other religious groups. Monitoring discrimination against Muslims should involve collecting data disaggregated by ethnicity, religion and gender," the statement reads.

"It is time to accept Muslims as an integral part of European societies, entitled to equality and dignity. Prejudice, discrimination and violence only hinder integration. We need our own “European Spring” to overcome old and emerging forms of racism and intolerance," the commissioner says.