Racism towards Muslims is increasing in countries across the EU. Muslims face racial discrimination and racist harassment because of their religion, skin colour or ethnic background. This report shows a sharp rise since the last survey in 2016. To tackle racism towards Muslims, the report sets out what EU countries can do. The findings are based on the experiences of almost 10,000 Muslims living in 13 EU countries and are part of FRA’s third EU-wide survey looking at the lived experiences of immigrants and their descendants.
Authors
European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, EU body or agency
- Catalogue number
- TK-09-24-073-EN-N TK-09-24-073-EN-C
- Citation
- European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Being Muslim in the EU – Experiences of Muslims – EU Survey on immigrants and descendants of immigrants , Publications Office of the European Union, 2024, https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2811/2893
- DOI
- https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2811/64235 https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2811/2893
- ISBN
- 978-92-9489-392-5
- Pages
- 134
- Published in
- Belgium
- Themes
- Social problems , Fundamental rights
Table of Contents
- Foreword 5
- Why is this report needed? 11
- Survey in a nutshell 15
- Key findings and FRA opinions 18
- 1. Discrimination and awareness of rights 37
- 1.1. Experiences of discrimination 39
- 1.2. Reporting discrimination 61
- 1.3. Awareness of support organisations, equality bodies and anti-discrimination laws 65
- 2. Hate crime: racist harassment and violence 68
- 2.1. Scale and types of racist harassment 70
- 2.2. Experiences of racist violence 80
- 2.3. Impact of racist harassment and violence 83
- 3. Police stops 87
- 3.1. Encounters with law enforcement 88
- 3.2. Treatment by the police during stops 92
- 4. Socioeconomic situation and living conditions 96
- 4.1. Education 98
- 4.2. Access to employment and quality of work 102
- 4.3. Access to affordable housing and poverty 109
- 4.4. Health 119
- Annex I: Muslims in the EU Survey on Immigrants and Descendants of Immigrants 126
- Annex II: Survey respondents’ awareness of equality bodies 131
- Figure 1: Overall prevalence of discrimination on any ground in the 12 months and the 5 years before the survey, by country and target group (%) 41
- Figure 2: Overall prevalence of discrimination on any ground in the 12 months before the survey for Muslim respondents and the general population, by country (%) 42
- Figure 3: Grounds of discrimination experienced in the 12 months and the 5 years before the survey (%) 45
- Figure 4: Grounds of discrimination experienced in the 5 years before the survey, by target group (%) 46
- Figure 5: Number of grounds of discrimination experienced in the 12 months before the survey (%) 47
- Figure 6: Frequency of discrimination in the 12 months before the survey (%) 48
- Figure 7: Prevalence of racial discrimination in the 12 months and the 5 years before the survey, by target group and country (%) 49
- Figure 8: Prevalence of racial discrimination in the 12 months before the survey, by selected sociodemographic characteristics (%) 50
- Figure 9: Prevalence of racial discrimination in key areas of life in the 12 months and the 5 years before the survey (%) 51
- Figure 10: Number of areas in which respondents felt racially discriminated against in the 12 months and the 5 years before the survey (%) 55
- Figure 11: The 5-year prevalence of racial discrimination when looking for work among Muslim women and men who do / do not wear traditional or religious clothing (including a headscarf, hijab or niqab for women) in public, by gender and generation (%) 59
- Figure 12: Specific experiences of racial discrimination at work (based on ethnic or immigrant background) in the 5 years preceding the survey (%) 60
- Figure 13: Reporting any incident of discrimination in the 12 months before the survey, by target group and country (%) 62
- Figure 14: Reporting of incidents of discrimination in the 12 months before the survey (%) 64
- Figure 15: Reasons for not reporting incidents of discrimination in the 12 months preceding the survey (%) 65
- Figure 16: Average level of trust in the police by respondents’ experiences of racial discrimination in the 5 years before the survey and by country (average values on a scale of 0–10) 67
- Figure 17: Prevalence of racist harassment in the 12 months and the 5 years before the survey, by country and target group (%) 72
- Figure 18: Prevalence of racist harassment in the 12 months before the survey, by selected sociodemographic characteristics (%) 74
- Figure 19: Racist harassment in the 12 months before the survey among Muslim respondents who at least sometimes wear traditional or religious clothing in public and those who do not wear such clothing, by gender (%) 76
- Figure 20: Reasons for not reporting the most recent incident of racist harassment to authorities or services in the 5 years before the survey, by gender (%) 79
- Figure 21: Prevalence of racist violence in the 5 years before the survey, by country and target group (%) 81
- Figure 22: Consequences of the most recent incident of racist violence, by gender (%) 84
- Figure 23: Respondents worrying sometimes, often or all the time about becoming a victim of verbal insults or offensive comments, inappropriate staring or offensive gestures, or physical attacks because of their ethnic or immigrant background, by target g 85
- Figure 24: Prevalence of police stops in the 5 years before the survey, by country, target group and gender (%) 89
- Figure 25: Most recent police stop perceived to be due to discriminatory ethnic profiling among those stopped in the 5 years before the survey, by country and target group (%) 93
- Figure 26: Most recent police stop perceived by women and men to be due to discriminatory ethnic profiling among those stopped in the 5 years before the survey, by wearing of traditional or religious clothing (%) 94
- Figure 27: Levels of trust in the police, by experiences with police stops in the 5 years before the survey, by country (average values on a scale of 0–10) 95
- Figure 28: Highest completed level of education among respondents aged 16–64 years, compared with the general population, by country (%) 99
- Figure 29: Highest completed level of education among respondents aged 16–64 years, by target group and gender (%) 100
- Figure 30: Paid-work rate among Muslim respondents aged 20–64 years (including self-employment and occasional work or work in the 4 weeks before the survey), compared with the employment rate in the general population, by country and gender (%) 103
- Figure 31: Paid-work rate among Muslim respondents aged 20–64 years (including self-employment and occasional work or work in the 4 weeks before the survey), by target group and gender (%) 104
- Figure 32: Muslim respondents aged 16–24 years who are NEET, by target group and gender (%) 105
- Figure 33: Share of employed Muslim respondents in elementary occupations, compared with the general population, by target group and gender (%) 106
- Figure 34: EU overqualification rates for Muslim respondents, compared with the general population, by citizenship (%) 108
- Figure 35: Share of employed Muslim respondents with temporary contracts, compared with the general population, by country (%) 109
- Figure 36: People in households of Muslim respondents who live in accommodation they own, compared with the general population, by country and target group (%) 110
- Figure 37: Proportion of people in households of Muslim respondents living in overcrowded housing, compared with the general population, by country and target group (%) 112
- Figure 38: People in households of Muslim respondents who are living in housing deprivation, compared with the general population, by country and target group (%) 113
- Figure 39: People living in households of Muslim respondents making ends meet with (great) difficulty, compared with the general population, by country and target group (%) 115
- Figure 40: Proportion of people living in households of Muslim respondents who cannot afford to keep their home warm, compared with the general population, by country and target group (%) 116
- Figure 41: Proportion of people living in households of Muslim respondents who were in arrears in utility bills in the 12 months before the survey, compared with the general population, by country and target group (%) 117
- Figure 42: Proportion of people in households of Muslim respondents who were living in severe material deprivation, compared with the general population, by country (%) 118
- Figure 43: Subjective assessment of own health condition as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ among Muslim respondents aged 16–64 years, compared with the general population, by age and gender (%) 120
- Figure 44: Subjective assessment of own health condition as ‘very good’ or ‘good’ among Muslim respondents aged 16–64, compared with the general population, by country (%) 121
- Figure 45: Self-reported long-standing illness or health problem among Muslim respondents aged 16–64, compared with the general population, by country (%) 122
- Figure 46: Self-reported long-standing limitations in usual activities due to health problems among Muslim respondents aged 16–64, compared with the general population, by country (%) 123
- Figure 47: Self-reported unmet needs for medical examination and care among Muslim respondents aged 16–64, compared with the general population, by country (%) 124
- Table 1: Demographic characteristics of Muslim respondents, by country and target group 128
- Table 2: Most common countries of birth of foreign-born Muslim immigrants, by country and target group 129
- Table 3: Respondents’ awareness of equality bodies in their countries (%) 131
