A third of Scots Muslims face daily abuse

● Inquiry findings are branded shameful ● A lot of work to do say experts

More than third of Muslims say Islamophobia is an everyday fact of life in Scotland, a public inquiry has found.

The findings were branded “shameful” by the head of the Holyrood committee driving the probe. Almost four-fifths of Muslims say the problem is getting worse with verbal abuse, at work and on social media, a particular problem.

The public inquiry into Islamophobia in Scotland was launched last June by Holyrood’s cross-party group (CPG) on Tackling Islamaphobia, in conjunction with Newcastle University.

It sought written submissions and the initial analysis of the findings show that 35.5 per cent of Muslim respondents say Islamophobia is an “everyday” issue, while 41.3 per cent say they had experienced it.

More than a third (36.6 per cent) say they have been abused at work, while 32.6 per cent reported being abused on social media .

Anas Sarwar, Labour MSP and chair of the Cross-party Group on Tackling Islamophobia, said: “The early findings following the launch of this public inquiry make for sobering reading. We pride ourselves on being a welcome and tolerant country, but this demonstrates how much more work we have to do.

“There are people in Scotland who feel scared to leave theirhomesforfearofverbalof physical attack; are withdrawing from public services with devastating knock-on consequences on their health and education; and feel they are outsiders in their own country. This should shame us all.”

Just over three-fifths (60.5 per cent) said they had changed their behaviour as a result of such attacks.

Professor Peter Hopkins, of Newcastle University, was involved in the work after spending almost 20 years researching issues of racism and Islamophobia in Scotland.

He said: “The initial findings emerging from the inquiry demonstratethatscotlandhas a serious issue when it comes to everyday racism and Islamophobia.

“Those who suffer Islamophobic

abuse are often left feeling fearful, anxious and worried, with nearly 80 per cent feeling that the situation is getting worse.

“There is a lot of work to do across many different sectors - in order to address the problem of Islamophobia in contemporary Scotland.”

Mr Sarwar said the findings would inform the next phase of the cross-party group’s inquiry and urged other politicians to get involved in the fight.