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SearchToday in Islamophobia: In the UK, the government’s anti-Muslim hatred working group (AMHWG) has been “on pause” for more than four years, despite repeated promises from officials and a sharp rise in hate crime, meanwhile in India, weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a rare third term for his Hindu nationalist government, the state has implemented the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), allowing Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from India’s neighboring countries, and after fleeing China’s persecution and entering Thailand 10 years ago, more than 40 Uyghurs remain incarcerated in overcrowded detention centers for illegal entry without knowing their fate. Our recommended read of the week is by Al Jazeera on an open letter published Saturday by a group of 58 UK survivors of terror attacks which says that British politicians equating Muslims with “extremism” fuels anti-Muslim sentiments in the UK. This and more below:
United Kingdom
UK ‘terror’ attack survivors warn against equating Muslims with ‘extremism’ | Recommended Read
Dozens of “terror” attack survivors have urged politicians to stop equating British Muslims with “extremism”. In an open letter published Saturday, a group of 58 survivors said such language would fuel anti-Muslim sentiments in the United Kingdom, and said using it was the “height of irresponsibility”. The signatories included survivors of several “terror” attacks in the UK, such as the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing and the July 7, 2005 London bombing, and survivors of attacks in other countries. “To defeat this threat the single most important thing we can do is to isolate the extremists and the terrorists from the vast majority of British Muslims who deplore such violence,” the letter, published by the advocacy group Survivors Against Terror, read. read the complete article
UK anti-Islamophobia body has not met for four years despite hate crime rise
The government’s anti-Muslim hatred working group (AMHWG) has been “on pause” for more than four years, despite repeated promises from officials and a sharp rise in hate crime. The Guardian understands that members of the AMHWG last officially met in January 2020, before all working groups were adjourned because of the Covid pandemic. With reports showing a 335% increase in UK anti-Muslim hate crimes since Hamas attacked Israel on 7 October, members of the AMHWG have expressed their concern over Michael Gove’s inability to restart the group and tackle the surge in anti-Muslim hate crime. The group was set up during David Cameron’s premiership in 2012 with the aim of addressing anti-Muslim hatred, and monitoring hate crime and the police forces’ records of it, before looking at initiatives to prevent it. read the complete article
£117m to protect UK mosques and Muslim schools from hate attacks
More than £117m will be spent to protect mosques, Muslim schools and community centres in the UK from hate attacks over the next four years, the government says. Home Secretary James Cleverly said the investment would give "reassurance and confidence" to British Muslims. It will be spent on measures including CCTV cameras, alarms and fencing. The announcement comes in response to concerns the Israel-Hamas conflict is fuelling division in the UK. Mr Cleverly said: "Anti-Muslim hatred has absolutely no place in our society. We will not let events in the Middle East be used as an excuse to justify abuse against British Muslims. "The prime minister has made clear that we stand with Muslims in the UK. "That is exactly why we have committed to this funding, giving reassurance and confidence to UK Muslims at a time when it is crucially needed." read the complete article
International
Uyghur migrants see no release after a decade in Bangkok cells
After fleeing China’s persecution and entering Thailand 10 years ago, more than 40 Uyghurs remain incarcerated in overcrowded detention centers for illegal entry without knowing their fate, their families and rights groups said at a weekend seminar. They are among more than 500 Uyghurs who fled China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region to Southeast Asian countries, according to Thai officials and NGOs. They hoped to be resettled in Turkey via Malaysia but only about 100 made their way through the red tape and intransigence of officials. During the exodus from late 2013 to 2014, Thai immigration authorities arrested at least 475 Uyghurs – mostly on rubber plantations in Songkhla province – and detained them in March 2014, according to official figures. read the complete article
India
India implements ‘anti-Muslim’ 2019 citizenship law weeks before election
The Indian government has notified the rules for the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a rare third term for his Hindu nationalist government. The controversial law passed in 2019 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government allowed Indian citizenship to non-Muslim refugees from India’s neighbouring countries. It declared the Hindus, Parsis, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Christians who fled to Hindu-majority India from mainly Muslim Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan before December 31, 2014 were eligible for the citizenship. The law was declared “anti-Muslim” by several rights groups for keeping the community out of its ambit, raising questions over the secular character of the world’s largest democracy. Modi’s government had not drafted the rules for the law following nationwide protests over the passage of the law in December 2019. Violence broke out in capital New Delhi during the protests in which dozens, most of them Muslims, were killed and hundreds injured during days of rioting. “The Modi government announces implementation of Citizenship Amendment Act,” a government spokesman said, according to a Reuters news agency report. “It was an integral part of BJP’s 2019 [election] manifesto. This will pave [the] way for the persecuted to find citizenship in India.” he said, referring to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. read the complete article
Austria
The Austrian state's attack on Muslims shows no sign of easing
On 9 November 2020, seven days after a gunman in Vienna had shot dead four people, Austrian police carried out a substantial operation targeting individuals and organisations in its Muslim civil society, including aid organisations such as Rahma Austria and Muslim associations operating mosques, in what has become known as the infamous Operation Luxor. It was a large-scale police operation involving 940 officers targeting more than 70 individuals and organisations. Two days later, Lorenzo Vidino, director of the programme on extremism at George Washington University, argued in a piece for Foreign Policy that "Austria, not France, is the model for Europe's crackdown on Islamists". In the article, Vidino praised the then-Austrian chancellor, Sebastian Kurz, for being ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron, who had been similarly draconian in his crackdown on what the French government had coined "Islamist separatism". read the complete article