Islamophobic attacks in France rise by 23.5%

PARIS: 

Islamophobic attacks in France have risen by 23.5 percent in the first half of 2015, according to a report by a French nongovernmental organisation.

In a report titled “Islamophobia in France six months after the January 2015 terrorist attacks” released on Thursday by Paris based group against Islamophobia, the growing anti-Muslim sentiment in the country is reflected.

“Attacks against mosques, death threats against veiled women, school kids humiliated by their teachers, female students prohibited from wearing long skirts, religious profiling of Muslim children, propagation of hate speeches and even declarations of war on Muslims whom are portrayed as a fifth column… the consequences have been and still are dire for Muslims,” the report said.

Detailing the type of acts that have started occurring routinely in the aftermath of the 2015 Paris attacks while revealing that physical assaults increased by 500% and verbal assaults by 100% during the first few months of 2015, the report further said women are among the first victims.

“Discrimination and violence against adults are now joined by the humiliations inflicted on numerous Muslim children that have been blamed for the terrorist attacks,” it added.