Publishing the results of its second survey dealing with discrimination and violence against Muslims in the grand duchy, the Islamaphobia observatory reported fewer cases of targeted injustices against Muslims.

The survey found that 27% of survey respondents had witnessed an Islamophobic incident in 2019, compared with 35% in 2018 and 2017. Direct experiences of Islamophobia remained stable at around 17% for all three years.

While it said that this trend “remains very encouraging for the future,” there was a marked contrast in France, where there has been an increase in cases, which have spilled into the workplaces of some Luxembourg cross-border workers.  

Among its recommendations, the observatory is calling for the government to take an active and serious approach to Islamophobia in order to avoid any spillover or instrumentalisation. It wants to see greater prevention and awareness raising to help combat the issue. “It would be beneficial to intervene with structures that wish to do so in order to inform them and provide them with a certain number of tools to facilitate good living together,” the report said.

Meanwhile, more needs to be done to tackle the non-reporting of Islamophobic acts by victims and institutions. This, in itself, is a “significant source of Islamophobia”, the report explains. “It is important that individuals or institutions that witness injustices declare them and condemn them in one way or another, because let us remember he who says nothing consents.”