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MUSLIMS in Britain are facing a rising level of abuse and prejudice, a human rights group revealed yesterday.
A report by the Islamic Human Rights Commission found that between 2010 and 2014 the proportion of people surveyed who had experienced Islamophobia rose from 50 to 82 per cent.
The study, which recorded Muslim experiences of hostility and discrimination, also discovered that the number of those witnessing negative stereotypes about Islam and Muslims had gone from 69 to 93.3 per cent.
The report’s authors said that “negative political and media discourse” had created a “hate environment” — made worse by this year’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Act.
They added that this had led to “negative experiences,” which have “worsened over the five-year period.”
Some of the forms of hatred reported which are on the rise include verbal abuse, discrimination and physical violence.
The Metropolitan Police’s own records show a 5 per cent rise in hate crimes, with nearly 44,500 cases reported in 2013 alone.
Religiously motivated attacks grew by a staggering 45 per cent, with anti-Muslim incidents mounting since the murder of soldier Lee Rigby in May 2013.
Hope Not Hate spokesman Nick Ryan told the Star that he was saddened by findings.
He said: “There’s some evidence of rising hostility towards Muslims, both from organised hatred as well as more low-level antipathy and sensationalist media reporting.”
The commission’s report will be published in full by November 17.
Its findings came just days after the government announced that Islamophobic crime would now be recorded as a separate category, as anti-semitic attacks are already.
