EU needs legislation to counter rise of Islamophobia— 1

Islamophobia is the negative representation of irrational hostility, fear, or hatred of Islam, Muslims, and Islamic culture, and active discrimination against these groups or individuals within them. Today, Islamophobia in Europe manifests itself through individual attitudes and behaviours, and the policies and practices of organizations and institutions. Many European states have a tendency to prefer the freedom of speech over religious freedom. Against this backdrop, Pakistan has justifiably asked the European Union to deter Islamophobia through meaningful legislation.

A horrendous rise of Islamophobia in Europe:  According to the March-2021 report published by the United Nations Rights Council (UNHCR), ’’suspicion, discrimination and outright hatred towards Muslims has risen to epidemic proportions”. : Conversely to the urge of multiculturalism manifested in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), the rise of Islmophobia in the West is evident of the fact that Professor Samuel Huntington’s theory of civilizational clash holds leverage in Europe. Sadly, in a climate of rapidly expanding diversity in Europe, Muslim minorities have been portrayed as non-belonging and wanting to separate themselves from the rest of society. Government policies have failed to ensure equal rights for all, forcing significant sections of Muslim minorities to face unemployment, poverty, and limited civic and political participation, all of which aggravate discrimination.

There isn’t a single country in Europe where Islamophobic attacks are not on the rise. France saw a 52% increase from 2017 to 2018; in Austria it was 74%. And in the same year, seven pig’s heads were left threateningly around Dutch mosques.  The current rise of Islamophobia in Europe can be gauged by the 2017 EU Minorities and Discrimination Survey found that on average one in three Muslim respondents faced discrimination and prejudice, and 27 percent experienced a racist crime. Also,   Islamophobia seriously impacts women in day to day life, as is highlighted in recent research by the European Network Against Racism.

EU’s double standard approach on religious freedom: Undeniably, for the last 70 years, the European community law (acquis communautaire) is much active about antisemitism, whereas, on 16 March 2021 in a conversation with the President of Central Council of Jewish Communities in Finland, Yaron Nadbornik, the European Commission Coordinator on Combating antisemitism and fostering Jewish life, Katharina von Schnurbein, addressed the question of safety and ways to safeguard Jewish life in Europe.

Today, the European Union shows profound concern regarding the protection of the Jewish rights (the Holocaust laws in the European community law) — while at the same time demonstrating its callous disregard to the Islamic values or the fundamental traditions of the Muslims– is a glaring example of the European hypocrisy in terms of social equality, harmony and justice guaranteed to the European Muslim community by the European Convention on Human Rights. Yet hardly deniable is the fact that the EU should ever ignore the feelings of discomfiture –of the Muslim community at large—regarding the blasphemous move against the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) as some extremist European writers in Norway, Denmark, Netherlands and France demonstrated their disdain for Islam and the Muslim culture.

The credo of the European Convention on Human Rights? The European Convention on Human Rights protects the right to hold religious or other beliefs People with a wide range of different faiths have brought cases to the European Court of Human Rights Judgments from the Strasbourg court have protected people’s right to practice their religion, and the right of organisations to operate without government interference. At European level, the Council of Europe swiftly followed the United Nations in developing its protection of individuals’ right to freedom of religion and belief, set out in the 1950 European Convention on Human Rights, specifically Article 9, which grants freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and Article 14, which prohibits discrimination based on, inter alia, religion and opinions.

Article 9 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion: 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance. 2. Freedom to manifest one’s religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

EU’s legal framework on Xenophobia/ Islamophobia? Objectively, the EU values are those of equality, freedom and respect for human rights. Freedom of religion and belief has significant protections in the EU and under the international legal framework. It is important to view the EU measures aimed at addressing racism and xenophobia in the context of the broader EU legislative framework. Instruments aimed at supporting victims of crime and antidiscrimination measures are of particular relevance in this respect.

These include Directive 2012/29/EU 5 (Victims’ Support Directive) and the EU’s equality and anti-discrimination legislation (e.g. Directive 2000/43/EC6 (the Racial Equality Directive)). In 2018, the European Commission took the initiative to appoint a religious coordinator on anti-Muslim hatred. This has been a key opportunity to re-assess this role and ensure the coordinator has a clear human rights based mandate and meaningful resources to tackle racism and discrimination against Muslim communities in Europe, which have been lacking so far.

Nevertheless, , the role of religion in the human rights arena is sometimes perceived as challenging, since some religious actors and some secular human rights actors may not see eye-to-eye in some areas. This existing ideological gap requires a congenial balancing through novel legislation in the EU parliament. Despite the commendable role played  by numerous European organizations  combating Islamophobia in Europe , particularly, Center for Danish Muslim Relations, Denmark (CEDAR);Collective against Islamophobia and Discrimination, The Netherlands (CTID);Collective against Islamophobia in Belgium (CCIB); and Collective against Islamophobia in France, France (CCIF, the challenge to deter Islamophobia remains unaddressed because of the passive role of the European institutions—the European Parliament, the European Commission and European Council (the intergovernmental and transnational hubs of  the European law reforms).

EU institutions, the European Parliament, the European Commission, the European Council, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) all need to adopt a mitigating approach on Blasphemy and Islamophobia. The horizontal and transnational application of the Blasphemy laws can be an instrumental measure in this regard.

To be continued

The writer is an independent ‘IR’ researcher and international law analyst based in Pakistan