Muslim people suffer discrimination throughout Europe. According to the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), one in three Muslim people claims to have been victims of discrimination or harassment due to visible religious symbols such as clothing.
The Barcelona Discrimination Observatory Report offers similar data. It points out that, in several cases reported last year, racism intersected with gender and religion. Above all, the report highlights the discrimination suffered by Muslim women who wear hijab.
In order to combat anti-Muslim racism, the European Coalition of Cities Against Racism (ECCAR) presents the guide “Local Actions Against Anti-Muslim Racism”. It collects good practice initiatives from various cities throughout Europe that focus on measures tackling anti-Muslim intolerance, hatred, and discrimination in different areas and with multiple strategies.
It also includes contributions from specialists in the field, such as representatives of NGOs or the academic world.
The guide is addressed to various groups: researchers, activists, journalists or lawmaking entities, such as ECCAR member cities, so that they can implement this knowledge and good practices in their local contexts. It is available in Spanish, English, French, German, Italian and Portuguese.
Recommendations for local governments
Some of the recommendations in the guide are:
1. Education and culture need to be inclusive and inclusively accessible.
2. Measures to counteract segregation in housing and schooling need to be implemented.
3. Exercising the freedom of religion must be actively enabled by school authorities. Moreover, teachers need to get interreligious training.
4. Public housing needs to be used as an instrument to prevent and counteract segregation.
5. The city needs to ensure a positive media coverage on Islam and Muslims.
6. The city needs to ensure prayer rooms in public buildings.
7. The health services need to respect religious sentiments by respecting specific piety rules, providing prayer rooms in hospitals, and offering pastoral services. Medical and care staff need to be trained accordingly and easy to access information on patients’ rights needs to be provided.
Good practices already implemented
The Barcelona City Council launched the first Municipal Plan Against Islamophobia in 2016. The objective was to combat a specific type of discrimination given the increase in discriminatory situations towards the Muslim population (due to religion, ethnicity, gender, or a combination of them all).
The report “The religious practice of the Muslim communities of Barcelona. Expressions and problems” resulted in a series of recommendations that would serve as the basis for the municipal plan.
The plan was drawn up in close cooperation with Muslim communities, expert voices and human rights organisations. The perspective and work of the main entities of the city were therefore included.
The city of Barcelona considers that a plan such as this one is an effective tool for including the topic on the political agenda of municipalities. It thus helps to prevent discourse and hate crimes, promoting cohesion and coexistence to ensure that the rights of the entire population (and of Muslim people in particular) are respected.
The guide lists other cases of good practices in cities around Europe: Bologna, Toulouse, Vienna, Zürich and several German cities, among others.