While the report stated that at least one-third of the 5.5 million Muslims in Germany had faced outward examples of hostility and discrimination, the experts believe that the real numbers of those affected are likely much higher – reportedly only 10% of Muslims appear to report instances of discrimination to the authorities, which shows how undocumented the real numbers may be.
New Report: Almost 50% of German Population Believes Islam Does Not Belong in Germany
While the report stated that at least one-third of the 5.5 million Muslims in Germany had faced outward examples of hostility and discrimination, the experts believe that the real numbers of those affected are likely much higher – reportedly only 10% of Muslims appear to report instances of discrimination to the authorities, which shows how undocumented the real numbers may be.
An intensive 400-page report has recently been published after a three-year research period with a 12-member independent panel, with shocking new data on the discrimination and Islamophobia that German Muslims face on a daily basis in Germany.
Published by The Independent Group of Experts on Muslim Hostility (UEM) and commissioned by the interior ministry in Berlin after the shocking 2020 far-right terror attacks in the city of Hanau that killed 10 Muslims, the report analyzed police crime statistics, data from anti-discrimination agencies, counseling centers, nongovernmental organizations, and numerous scientific studies to come to its numerous shocking results.
According to the report, German Muslims faced discrimination regardless of ethnicity, citizenship, age, or gender. German-born Muslims were widely seen as “foreign”, with Muslim women who wear the hijab facing “particularly dramatic forms of hostility”.
Almost half of the population of Germany believes that Islam does not belong in the country, according to the report, with Islam perceived as a “backward religion”. In addition, 40% of the population of Germany would not accept a Muslim mayor.
The panelists also reported that 90% of the popular German films that were watched during the study presented a negative view of Muslims and Islam in general, associating Muslims with “terror attacks, wars, and the oppression of women”.
While the report stated that at least one-third of the 5.5 million Muslims in Germany had faced outward examples of hostility and discrimination, the experts believe that the real numbers of those affected are likely much higher – reportedly only 10% of Muslims appear to report instances of discrimination to the authorities, which shows how undocumented the real numbers may be.
In a public statement after being presented with the report, German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser stressed, “Muslim life belongs to Germany as a matter of course.”
She continued: “Many of the 5.5 million Muslims in Germany experience exclusion and discrimination in everyday life – up to and including hatred and violence. It is very important to make this visible and to raise awareness of resentment that is still widespread.”
The report concluded with a recommendation to the German government that a specialized task force should be created to address the discrimination that German Muslims face and centralize all complaints of discriminatory and Islamophobic nature.
In addition, the report suggested that extensive training was needed at daycare centers, schools, police stations, government offices, media outlets, and entertainment and film companies to help combat the negative image of Muslims. Textbooks and lesson plans in schools were recommended to have a complete overhaul as well.
