Hate pushing UK Muslims away but government yet to ‘accept Islamophobia exists’: Rights lawyer

By Burak Bir

LONDON (AA) — Months have passed since a wave of far-right riots swept through British towns and cities this summer but Muslim communities are still on edge.

A survey revealed last week that one-third of Muslims in Britain are considering leaving the country after the riots, which included arson, racist chants, and damage to property as several mosques were targeted.

The survey, conducted by market research company Survation on behalf of Tell Mama, a non-governmental organization that tracks hate crimes targeting Muslims, showed rising concerns within British Muslim communities following the unrest.

Two-thirds of survey respondents said they felt the risk of harm to Muslim communities had increased since July 30, when the riots began in the city of Southport.

Sparked by false online claims that a Muslim asylum seeker was responsible for the fatal stabbing of three children in Southport, the riots had led to a significant surge in charges as authorities addressed the unrest.

According to a human rights lawyer, the anti-immigrant violence was the result of a "massive increase" in Islamophobia over the past several years coming to a head.

In an interview with Anadolu, Aamer Anwar, a British political activist and human rights lawyer, said the UK government had to openly accept that Islamophobia is rising in the country.

"I’ve said that we still have antisemitism in our society, but Muslims, to a large extent, have replaced Jews as a focus of hatred," he noted, adding that while Islamophobia has indeed been escalating since Oct. 7 last year, when Israel began its genocidal war on Gaza, it has been increasing since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the US.

Since then, Muslim communities have been scapegoated in multiple different cases in the UK, according to Anwar, who argued that resident Muslims and Muslim asylum-seekers were being targeted as the sources of any problem.

"If there’s a shortage in housing, then you blame Muslim asylum seekers. If there’s jobs being taken, you blame Muslims."

Anwar went on to point out the double standard prevalent in incidents of terrorism. "When there’s a terrorist attack … if it’s a white individual who’s a member of the far right, they don't turn around and blame the whole community."

"They don't ask the churches to excuse or to apologize on their behalf, but for some reason, when an (Muslim) individual is involved in an attack, the whole Muslim community is blamed, the whole Muslim community is expected to shoulder the burden," he said, adding that mosques, communities, and people dressed in a way associated with Islam are targeted.

- 'We haven't really seen action taken against it'

Despite the fact that Muslims have been living and working together with other communities for centuries, they are now the targets of the far right, focusing on them to promote their cause of "fascism," said Anwar.

He warned that sooner or later, people from all sections of the community will be in the far right's crosshairs, because "that is how the far right works."

Citing the survey, Tell Mama said in a statement that its findings demonstrated that anti-Muslim hate, or Islamophobia, was having "significant impacts" on Britain’s Muslim communities.

It added that in the weeks after the riots, which continued for several days, Tell Mama had been inundated with reports of being shouted or spat at, death threats, or physical assault.

Asked what steps authorities could take to curb Islamophobia and prevent further harm to the Muslim communities, Anwar made a call for real action.

"I think they (UK government) have to openly accept that Islamophobia exists," he said, noting that the Labor government had launched an inquiry into Islamophobia within its own party but that "we haven’t seen the results somewhere."

"We haven't really seen action taken against it," he lamented.

"If somebody is a racist, then they should be condemned, actions should be taken against them ... If it’s legal action that requires to be taken, we should examine it.

"If somebody is antisemitic, they should be condemned, action should be taken against them."

Anwar argued that similar action must be taken when it comes to anti-Muslim hate and that Islamophobia should not be excused or concealed.

"The fact is that Islamophobia is on a massive increase in the last several years, and people are being targeted and communities do feel under attack, and do feel fear.

"They are the ones who are receiving the violence ... and the abuse on social media and yet, for some reason, little or no action is taken."