German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (Credit: Peter Jülich/Creative Commons)
Nadine Osman
The German government will take resolute measures to combat Islamophobia, insisted Interior Minister Nancy Faeser. Speaking at the German Islam Conference, Faeser said, “Many people face racism each and every day in Germany. Muslims experience double racism. They are often facing hostility and rejection as members of the Islamic religion, but also as people with an immigration background.”
Faeser promised that the coalition government will take measures to combat racism and Islamophobia, and support projects to promote integration and stronger participation of Muslims in German society.
She also said the Interior Ministry will adopt a more inclusive approach to the work of the German Islam Conference and advocate broader participation to ensure that it reflects the diversity of Muslims in the country.
Recent years have seen a rise in racism and Islamophobia in the country, a result of far-right groups and parties, exploiting the refugee crisis to incite fear. German authorities registered at least 662 Islamophobic hate crimes in 2021. More than 46 mosques were attacked between January and December last year, and at least 17 people were injured as a result of anti-Muslim violence.
120 anti-Muslim hate crimes were registered in Germany in the third quarter of this year, without any arrests or convictions. According to government figures released to the federal parliament (Bundestag) on December 1, the three-months of data represents a significant increase in the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes registered in the first (83) and second (69) quarters.
The third quarter figure includes 10 injuries and damage to mosques and Islamic centres. The Federal Supreme Court’s Prosecutor General has “not launched or begun any preliminary procedures.” Mosques were the target of eleven similar assaults. The other types of crimes against Muslims were those that resulted in bodily harm, insults, incitement to hatred, vandalism, or the use of forbidden symbols.
Since a few neo-Nazis have won elections and been elected to the German parliament, what were formerly considered far-right fringe forces have gained political representation, and anti-Muslim violence in Germany has become a commonplace reality.
The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party failed to win a seat in the Bundestag during the 2013 legislative elections since it received little over 800,000 votes.
Four years later, the party achieved a significant victory by winning more than 5.3 million votes and becoming the largest opposition party in parliament. Far-right leaders encouraged the demonisation of minorities, which led to an increase in hate crimes against Muslims.
Nearly five million Muslims live in Germany, making it the second-largest Muslim country in Western Europe.
