European Muslim Initiative

Press Release

Europe‘s reality today

                                                                                                           Strasbourg, 23 May 2011

Far-right party members attack Muslims in Bulgaria and rightwing Danish Minister proposes to sort out immigrants after ethnicity and culture.

Many people in the western world get their daily information from mainstream media, which is often very selective in its dissemination and communication. The abuse of human rights, direct and indirect discrimination and outright violence experienced by ethnic and religious minorities on daily basis does not make headlines. Politicians are also quick to manipulate the media for their own agenda.

This is in contrast to the strong focus, the same media applies when someone among minorities commit a crime or practices violence. This is the reality of Europe today. Nazi marches, anti-Roma campaigns, Anti-Semitic and Islamophobic statements are common occurrences.

EMISCO is very concerned and wishes to raise the question of protection against verbal and physical violence and abuse of human rights through legislations.

For example, members of the far-right Bulgarian Ataka party have attacked several Muslims who gathered for their usual Friday prayers at a main mosque in downtown Sofia. The supporters of Volen Siderov, the leader of the Bulgarian ultra-nationalist party Ataka, burned carpets and attacked the Muslims with stones and eggs. Siderov, who is running in the October 11 presidential election, said during the Friday protest that he wants demonstrations against Muslims to continue in Bulgaria. EMISCO is concerned that the Muslim community could be deprived of their constitutional rights of religious expression if the extremist Ataka party’s leader takes power in the upcoming election. The Bulgarian government has recently forbidden passport pictures with women’s headscarves and banned religious literature from focusing on Islam in a move that has been widely viewed as part of a smear campaign against Muslims in the country.

Moving towards North of Europe, although there is very little violence in Denmark against Muslim minorities, the greatest threat is coming from the Rightwing government, which is ruling with the help of anti-Islam and anti-minority Peoples Party. This political alliance has made life intolerable for ethnic minorities through 20 restrictive legal measures in the last 10 years, making it nearly impossible for non-European minorities, mostly Muslims to seek asylum, have family reunion and attain citizenship. In the latest move, the Integration Minister Søren Pind is going to introduce new legislative practice to give preference to citizens from countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand in order to make it easier for them to achieve family reunion in Denmark.

He is also setting up a Research Project to find out if non-European immigrants (Read Muslims) will dilute the Danish culture in the coming 40 years and what type of immigrants should be coming to Denmark in future and how to regulate it.

EMISCO, in line with the recently unanimously adopted Article 20 of the ICCPR on the prohibition of any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence, launch a strong appeal to all Human rights Defenders to mobilize and join hands to combat with all legal means the rising forces of intolerance and discrimination in Europe.

For further information, please call EMISCO at: Tel: +45.40.15.47.71 / +336.89.84.52.27