By Fawad Hashmey
LONDON, Dec 15 (APP):Effective and sustainable measures are urgently needed at the city, national and European levels to tackle religious discrimination, according to a report released Tuesday by the Open Society Institute's At Home in Europe Project.
Europe needs to live up to its promise of an inclusive, open society, said Nazia Hussein, Director of the At Home in Europe project at the launching of the report at the City Hall.
Switzerland's recent ban on minarets is a clear sign that anti-Muslim sentiment is a real problem in Europe. Too many Europeans believe that religious identity is somehow a barrier to integration, yet the majority of Muslims surveyed identify strongly with the city and country where they live. The role of the city is crucial in tackling discrimination but also in paving the way for inclusion of different people.
She said Europe's treatment of its Muslim residents will test the Region's commitment to equal rights.
"Muslims in Europe: A Report on 11 EU Cities" is the culmination of over 2000 one-on-one in-depth interviews and more than 60 focus groups with Muslim residents as well as interviews with local government officials, Muslim leaders, academics, journalists, and activists in select neighbourhoods in seven countries.
The selected cities included Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Antwerp, Berlin, Hamburg, Copenhagen, Leicester ,London, Marseille, Paris, and Stockholm.
The 11 city-specific reports, to be released in early 2010, highlight positive examples of change at the local level and analyze how authorities are addressing challenges related to integration in sectors such as education, employment, health and the media.
About 20 million Muslims live within the European Union, mostly in capital cities and large industrial towns. They are a diverse and growing population of citizens as well as newly arrived migrants.
Though the majority of Muslims are a long-standing and integral part of the fabric of their cities, many still experience discrimination and suspicion.
This complex situation presents Europe with one of its greatest challenges on how to effectively ensure equal rights and social cohesion in a climate of political and social tension, global economic recession, and rapidly expanding diversity.
"There is very little official data available on Europe's Muslim and minority populations. What does exist is either anecdotal or extrapolated and contributes to an inaccurate picture of Muslim communities and minorities in Europe and a lack of understanding of the experiences and concerns of these communities," said Hussein.
This body of work, she added, will offer new data on the everyday situation in Muslim communities and concrete recommendations for improving living conditions. "It also points to how communities, regardless of faith, have largely the same concerns. Where they differ is how they are treated and viewed."
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