Leading Muslims say government must take hate crime more seriously after 593% rise

The government has been urged to ‘do more’ to tackle anti-Muslim hate crime, after incidents across Britain increased by 593% in the week after the Christchurch shooting.

The charity Tell Mama, which records and measures anti-Muslim hate crime in the UK, said 95 incidents were reported to the charity between 15 March, the day of the New Zealand atrocity, and midnight on 21 March.

Of those, 85 incidents – 89% of the total – contained direct references to the New Zealand attacks and featured gestures such as mimicking firearms being fired at Muslims.

Leading Muslim groups and charities have now called on the government to do more to take anti-Muslim prejudice seriously.

Tell Mama told Metro.co.uk: ‘As the organisation at the front line of supporting victims of anti-Muslim hate and at the front line of measuring, monitoring and mapping anti-Muslim hate, the huge rise in anti-Muslim hate incidents in the U.K after New Zealand shows a latency of anti-Muslim hate that has no compassion or care for others.’

The charity called on the government to ‘take concerted action through education, the criminal justice system, restorative justice and other means’ to tackle anti-Muslim prejudice before ‘a long term issue develops’.

The Runnymede Trust also called on the government to take anti-Muslim prejudice seriously, warning that for far too long the ‘vulnerability of Muslim communities’ had been  underestimated by government and public authorities.

Deputy Director of the Runnymede Trust, Dr Zubaida Haque told Metro.co.uk: ‘We need more police presence to protect Muslim communities, stronger security around mosques and politicians and media to play a stronger role in anti-racist and positive messages about Muslim communities.’

Dr Haque said the government and public authorities had been ‘far too complacent about the growth of far right extremism’.

She said: ‘We need to remember that hate crime has a distressing and cumulative impact on the individual and creates a sense of fear & isolation.

‘And it’s a message to both the individual and community that they don’t belong. Words condemning it are not enough. We need more action.’

A spokesperson for the Muslim Council of Britain said: ‘It is deeply worrying that Muslims in Britain are now facing verbal and physical harm from far right activists following the massacre in New Zealand leading to the deaths of over 50 Muslims.

‘It seems an environment has been created in our society over a period of time, fed in part by sections of the media and political commentators that Muslims are fair game.

‘This has to stop and our politicians and the authorities must take a zero tolerance approach to these Islamophobic threats against Muslim communities and show bold leadership, as demonstrated by Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand.’

A Government spokesperson told Metro.co.uk: ‘Many Muslim communities are feeling vulnerable and anxious after the horrific events in New Zealand, which were a direct attack on the values of tolerance and freedom of worship that unite us all.

‘Nobody should ever fear persecution of their faith and it’s vital we stand together to reject those who seek to spread hatred and divide us.

‘The Home Secretary last week announced increased funding for next year’s Places of Worship Protective Security Fund to £1.6 million and allocated £5 million over three years for security training for places of worship, providing physical protection as well as peace of mind.

‘But we know this alone is not enough. We are also working with the cross-Government Working Group on Anti-Muslim Hatred to do more to tackle the underlying prejudice, to work with communities affected and ensure a robust criminal justice response to these abhorrent crimes.’