Muslims face major barriers in jobs market, claims report
THE University of Birmingham has contributed to a major new report warning that anti-Muslim racism is a major challenge for the UK.
The report on Islamophobia, produced by think tank the Runnymede Trust, found that Muslims face huge disadvantages in the jobs market, despite more Muslims going to university than ever, including more Muslim women graduates than men.
It recommends all parts of society ‘call out’ prejudice and discrimination experienced by Muslims.
Dr Chris Allen, a lecturer in Social Policy at the University of Birmingham and a contributor to the report, said: “Having worked with and supported numerous Muslim civic society organisations over the past decade and a half, it is they that have been at the forefront of the drive towards challenging Islamophobia.
“Trying to do so in public and political spaces where the shadow of terror atrocities linger long and where growing anti-Muslim sentiment has been on the increase, has made the task even greater for them. My chapter in the report focuses on these challenges.”
The report calls for an independent inquiry into the government’s Prevent counter-terrorism strategy.
In 1997 the trust published the first major report on the issue, called ‘Islamophobia: A Challenge For Us All’, which has been credited with popularising the term.
It says British Muslims have become the focus of policies framed around terrorism and a perceived threat to Western civilisation.
Farah Elahi, of the Runnymede Trust, said: “The report sets out a clear definition of what Islamophobia is as a form of racism and sets out ten recommendations for what should be done about it. The focus of tackling Islamophobia must be on the impact on Muslims or those perceived to be Muslim.”
Key recommendations set out in the report include:
Tackling Islamophobia requires more responsibility by everyone to call out and report anti-Muslim rhetoric and prejudice.
This includes teachers, neighbours and fellow citizens. All civil society organisations challenging other forms of discrimination should work more closely with groups challenging Islamophobia.
Government should adopt the report’s definition of Islamophobia as being anti-Muslim racism, to bring greater focus on economic disadvantages facing Muslims.
There should be an independent inquiry into Prevent to eliminate discrimination and stereotyping. There should be a clear dividing line between the government’s counter-terrorism Prevent strategy and integration policies. Conflating the two areas weakens both.
Media regulators must intervene more proactively in challenging discriminatory reporting.