Staff aat counselling centres for Muslims affected by hate crimes are reporting a growing loss of inhibition and increasing brutality in anti-Muslim incideents, according to a new situation report by the Claim network released on Wednesday.
DPA Internationaal reports that of the 4,096 anti-Muslim incidentsd documented by the Claim network last year, 214 involved bodily harm. The network said it assumed a high number of unreported cases. Particularly in schools, but also in contact with authorities or the police, those affected faced “high barriers to reporting,” it said.
With regard to discrimination, insults and incitement to hatred, a certain habituation effect was being observed, the report said.
“At the same time, it is evident that everyday forms of racism are being reported less and less frequently, as repeated experiences of discrimination often lead to a creeping normalization,” The nationwide situation report said.
That did not mean those affected felt no distress; On the contrary, such experiences had a lasting impact on their quality of life and sense of security, it added.
A climate of fear prevailed, the report said, with growing resignation among those affected. In schools, incidents frequently went unreported because parents fear reprisals.
Among the documented cases was the experience of a girl in the north-eastern city of Greifswald who was insulted by boys shouting slogans such as “Foreigners out,” while one of the boys tried to stub out a cigarette on her headscarf as he cycled past.
A 52-year-old woman was also punched in the face by an unknown assailant in the western city of Dusseldorf in December. She fell from her bicycle and sustained serious injuries before turning to the police.
The anti-Muslim hatred did not begin with violence, but where “people are blanket-labelled as a problem,” said Said Etris Hashemi at tthe presentation of the report. He survived the murderous racist attack of February 19, 2020, in the city of Hanau near Frankfurt with serious injuries. “Words are not without consequences,” he said .
Claim director Rima Hanano said she was concerned that the issue of anti-Muslim hatred was currently not receiving “the necessary attention it deserves” from the government.
