Open Society Institute report on Muslims in Europe

11 January 2010

According to the report recently released by the Open Society Institute, there is an urgent need for effective and sustainable measures at the city, national, and EU levels to tackle religious discrimination.

Muslims in Europe: A Report on 11 EU Cities focus on Europe's treatment of its Muslim residents. This publication is the culmination of over 2000 one-on-one in-depth interviews and more than 60 focus groups with Muslim residents as well as interviews with local government officials, Muslim leaders, academics, journalists, and activists in select neighborhoods in seven countries: Amsterdam and Rotterdam, Antwerp, Berlin and Hamburg, Copenhagen, Leicester and London, Marseille and Paris, and Stockholm. The 11 city-specific reports, to be released in early 2010, highlight positive examples of change at the local level and analyze how authorities are addressing challenges related to integration in sectors such as education, employment, health and the media.

As Nazia Hussain, director of OSI’s At Home in Europe project mentions, "there is very little official data available on Europe’s Muslim and minority populations. What does exist is either anecdotal or extrapolated and contributes to an inaccurate picture of Muslim communities and minorities in Europe and a lack of understanding of the experiences and concerns of these communities." This body of work will offer new data on the everyday situation in Muslim communities and concrete recommendations for improving living conditions. It also points to how communities, regardless of faith, have largely the same concerns. Where they differ is how they are treated and viewed.”

Further information

Muslims in Europe: A Report on 11 EU Cities

Open Society Institute website