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Anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise in workplaces throughout the Europen Union, a new report from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights found.
The report, titled Being Muslim in the EU, surveyed 9,604 Muslims between 2021 and 2022, and found that 47% have faced discrimination, a 12% increase from the last time the survey was conducted in 2016. Muslims are “the second-largest religious group in the EU” and make up at least 5% of the population.
Researchers noted that the survey predates the conflict in Gaza, but other research suggests that Islamophobia has increased since October 2023.
Muslims are facing discrimination at work and school in particular. Some 39% of respondents said they have been discriminated against during the job application process, and 35% experience discrimination at work, an eight-point and 12% rise, respectively. This has led to higher rates of Muslims living in poverty and more than a quarter (28%) having temporary work contracts.
A person’s citizen status does not appear to correlate with a greater chance of being employed, the report points out, but factors like gender, disability status, and education level do have an impact on employment. For example, 45% of Muslim women who wear traditional religious clothing, such as a headscarf or hijab, reported discrimination during their job search and have faced more discrimination than Muslim men or those who do not wear religious clothing.
The report also found that Muslims in the EU are more likely to be unemployed compared to non-Muslims, with the largest employment gaps in Sweden (22%), Greece, and the Netherlands (both 19%).
And discrimination is causing more young Muslims (aged 18–24) to leave school earlier than their general population counterparts, further hindering their employment opportunities.
The report’s authors recommended that the EU do more to protect Muslim residents, and begin collecting more data on race and discrimination. “We are witnessing a worrying surge in racism and discrimination against Muslims in Europe,” Sirpa Rautio, director of the EU Agency of Fundamental Rights (FRA), said. “This is fueled by conflicts in the Middle East and made worse by the dehumanising anti-Muslim rhetoric we see across the continent.”