Anti-Islam Hate Crimes Jumped Over 11-Fold In Spain In 2015: Federation
President of the Spanish Federation of Islamic Religious Entities, Mounir Benjelloun, said on Tuesday that a total of 534 attacks targeting Muslim community, including online abuse, were registered in the country last year.
Benjelloun noted that the figure marked a sharp increase compared to the 48 anti-Islam incidents recorded in 2014.
"Thistypeof aggression increases whenever there is an act of violence in a European country,” he added.
The remarks come as Spain's Interior Ministry recorded 70attacks against Muslimsin 2015, which was up from 63 in the preceding year.
Benjelloun said that discrepancies betweenthe ministry's figure and actual number result from the fact that victims are mostly reluctant to approach the police and file a complaint, and assaults against Muslim property are simply labeled as vandalism instead of being treated as hate crime.
Spanish authorities say Moroccan immigrants are the most common victims of xenophobia-related crimes and Islamophobia in the country.
According to the Spanish newspaperEl País, most of the Islamophobia-related crimes took place in Madrid, Malaga, Barcelona and Albacete last year.
Collective Against Islamophobia in Francealso reported that attacks against mosques and property owned by Muslims have increased sharply.
They have surgedsince November 13, 2015, when militants killed 130 people in the French capital city of Paris, said theParis-based organization that monitors Islamophobic acts.
Tell MAMA, a Britain-based NGO that tracks hate crimes against Muslims, also stated that such attacks have increased threefold in the United Kingdom since then. Up to 115 incidents were registered in the week following the attacks alone.
Aiman A. Mazyek, the head of the Central Council of Muslims (ZDM), said anti-Islam attacks are on the rise in Germany as well.
Source: Press TV
