11/10/2022 Session
The Assembly today expressed its deep concern at the constant increase in signs of Islamophobia in Europe, which has reached a dramatic spike in recent years. According to the adopted resolution, based on the report by Momodou Malcolm Jallow (Sweden, UEL), anti-Muslim racism is manifested through prejudice, stigmatisation, discrimination (including profiling), hate speech, and exclusion from education, employment and housing.
In its resolution, PACE condemned Islamophobic rhetoric in public and political discourse by populist and far-right movements – but which often spreads to mainstream politics – and denounced racist and Islamophobic conspiracy theories, notably the so-called “Great Replacement” theory.
In this context, PACE has called on member States to adopt action plans on preventing and combating Islamophobia or ensure that action plans on racism and discrimination refer to Islamophobia specifically.
Counterterror legislation and policies must be sufficiently circumscribed to avoid them from being used in arbitrary and discriminatory ways, the adopted text underlines.
PACE also encouraged political leaders to speak out against Islamophobia and all other forms of intolerance, and political parties to sign the Charter of European political parties for a non-racist and inclusive society as endorsed in its Resolution 2443 (2022).
Finally, PACE called on member States to conduct awareness-raising and information campaigns for the general public to convey the message that preventing and combating Islamophobia is the responsibility of all members of society.