By isolating Muslim migrant societies, Europe is giving rise to an indigenous Islamic State
Europe continues to be at the receiving end of terrorism. The recent terrorist attacks in Brussels were the latest tragedy which resulted in the deaths of dozens of innocent people. While the Islamic state and other terrorist groups have vowed to carry out more attacks in Europe, the Middle East remains in a perilous condition.
However, the question which should be asked is that how this rapidly deteriorating security situation in Europe will reflect on the Muslim population living in European countries? There is a strong pressure today on Muslims living in Europe: in reaction to the recent suicide bombings, the Muslim lives have come under scrutiny just because of their faith.
After the 9/11 attacks, the Muslim community in Europe has remained under the spotlight, being treated as a complete ethnic (irrespective of their cultural associations) whole and part of the radicalisation problem in Europe as opposed to being a part of the solution.
The ethnic segregation of Muslims in Europe under the pretext of diversity and inclusiveness has compounded the terrorism problem. In recent decades, Muslim communities have been treated on the basis of religion rather on the basis of their diverse cultures and social backgrounds which in a way have created the very divisions which multicultural policies were meant to avoid.
The Recent attacks in Europe have opened so many questions about Europe’s controversial integration policies. The Islamic State militants, which carried out the Paris and Brussels attacks, belonged to an African and Arab cultural group, which has been on the receiving end of ethnic persecution. A decade ago, according to a Pew research report, more than 40 per cent of Muslims in Europe identified themselves with their national identity rather than religion. However, due to such inequitable policies, a large number in recent years have come to associate themselves with religion.
A few years ago, Tony Blair, while criticising violent Islamism said that its roots were not “superficial but deep” and could be found “in the extreme minority that is now in every European city.” Moreover he said that “we take the view that multiculturalism has not been the best way to integrate people in society” because it ghettoises people into minority and majority groups with no common identity. During the 2001 election campaign, Thatcher in an interview said: “I don’t wish to have what they call a multicultural society. I hate these phrases. Multicultural society! A multicultural society will never be united society.” Ten years on, David Cameron delivered a speech saying that “state multiculturalism is a wrongheaded doctrine that has had disastrous results.”
According to some estimates there are more than fifteen million Muslims in Europe. However, Europe has put all Muslim societal groups into one religious pack: Islam. Various Muslim immigrants, who have travelled to Europe from different parts of the world, have more cultural and ethnic sensitivities than religion.
This latest surge of immigrants from the Middle East is only going to exacerbate Europe’s ethnic problems. According to reports, more than 4,000 refugees are migrants are reaching Europeans shores every day. Amidst security concerns, their assimilation and integration will be far more challenging than before and with Europe’s flawed multiculturalists’ policies, these people are vulnerable to radicalisation. Recently, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, in a statement, pointed towards this problem by saying that we hope that majority of immigrants “will want to learn our language very quickly.”
There are also changing trends in European native and immigrant population’s faiths. Calculations show that Europe’s population will experience negative natural population growth, and by 2050, the population is projected to decrease by as much as 52 million from its present level. While the European birth rate is projected to fall, the number of Muslims in Europe is expected to grow over the next 20 years. Given these numbers, for the European Union (EU) to surface as a thriving economic power, they should learn to get along with other minority refugee populations.
Moreover, religious animosity among different Muslim states has further compounded this problem. The historic Shi’a-Sunni divide between the Saudi Arabia and Iran has also added to this radicalisation narrative. Both countries have been supporting different militia groups all across the Middle East in a bid to have more regional influence. And the use of Islam as a pretext has had greater implications not just for the religion itself but also for its practitioners.
The Middle Eastern refugee crisis, which started almost two years ago, has further complicated the situation in Europe. Allegedly, many terrorists from the Islamic State have also travelled in the guise of immigrants. While the growing number of migrants will put additional pressure on Europe’s weak economy, they are also likely to further divide natives Europeans from non-Europeans. Moreover, It is likely that Muslims will come under further constrains and restrictions as far as their cultural, social and religious associations are concerned.
Make no mistake: any further restrictions on Muslims in Europe and narratives related to Islam’s radical perception will result in further radicalisation of Muslim youth in Europe. Therefore, European states need to formulate their policies carefully, as any knee jerk measure will have deep implications for the region’s stability and security.
