Advertisement

France sees huge drop in anti-Muslim acts and threats

The Local France
The Local France - [email protected]
France sees huge drop in anti-Muslim acts and threats
Photo: AFP

France has seen a massive drop in the number of anti-Islam acts, according to the National Observatory against Islamophobia, although Muslim leaders sounded a note of caution.

Advertisement

The number of anti-Islam acts in France has finally fallen after having rocketed in recent years.

New figures from the National Observatory against Islamophobia revealed that in the first three months of 2016, the number of reported anti-Islam acts dropped by 83 percent compared to the first three months of last year.

That drop bucked a recent trend that has saw a huge spike in Islamophobic acts last year.

The observatory found that there were 20 acts recorded in the period this year, compared to 56 in the same period of 2015. There were also 20 threats made, compared to 166 last year.

The report found that the 2016 statistics were in line with the figures from 2014.

2015 saw a massive jump in Islamophobic acts following the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo’s offices in January. There were several incidents of mosques being attacked as well as individuals being attacked.

There were further shocking anti-Islam incidents following the November terror attacks including one incident that saw protesters burn copies of the Koran at a Muslim prayer room in Corsica.

Despite the fall in the number of anti-Islam acts this year the president of the Observatory called for caution fearing the number could easily rise again.

“We believe that as the future elections approach and given the current political climate, with the declarations of certain politicians, that it is highly likely that the situations may deteriorate and there will be a rise in anti-Muslim acts,” said Abdallah Zekri.

While the numbers may have fallen this year has seen some pretty shocking acts of racism and Islamophobia.

In March two pigs' heads were found Thursday attached to the fence of the Moroccan ambassador's residence in a chic suburb of the French capital, police said.

"The pigs' heads were discovered by security staff on Thursday at 9am. The ambassador was present," a police source told AFP.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also