Phone line service launched in UK to help victims of Islamophobia

A first helpline service has been launched in Britain to provide assistance to victims of Islamophobia amid concerns that incidents of Muslim hate crimes are not being reported or categorised properly.

Last year 2,000 hate crimes were recorded against different faiths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Faith Matters, a non-profit group, hopes to show the scale of the problem and provide support for victims.

"Many people think that Islamophobic crime does not exist. They say: 'Where is the data?'"said the director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal.

Mughal has therefore planned to set up the project 'Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks' (MAMA) with the help of government funding.

"This is a chance for the Muslim community to say: 'Let us present the case, in terms of the facts, let somebody collate it and present it to the authorities," The BBC quoted him, as saying.

"If someone has suffered abuse, been attacked or received a leaflet with inflammatory comments about Muslims in it, I want to hear about it," he added.

According to the report, Faith Matters will monitor incidents for an initial 12 months and then report its findings.

Meanwhile, Dr Leon Moosavi, an academic based at Lancaster University who has studied Islamophobia, pointed out that fear of Islam and Muslims is on the increase in Britain.

"It is a widespread problem in the UK. More education is needed in schools, and Muslims need to also educate people about their faith," he said.

At present, media reports of anti-Muslim incidents are monitored by Islamophobia Watch, Engage and the Islamic Human Rights Commission, but none are able to offer a personal service to victims.