Qur’an Burnt, Migrant Killed: Islamophobia Surges in France
Rising anti-Muslim hate crimes and systemic bias deepen fears in French Muslim community
By Abdullahi Yusuf
An unidentified individual stole a Quran from a mosque near Lyon, France, and set it ablaze, according to local Muslim leaders and police.
The incident, reported Tuesday, highlights a troubling surge in anti-Muslim hate crimes across the country.
The attack occurred overnight between Sunday and Monday in the Rhône region.
“An uncovered individual entered the prayer room, seized a Quran, burned it, and discarded it outside the mosque before fleeing,” the regional council of mosques said in a statement.
Authorities have launched an investigation.
This desecration comes on the heels of a racially motivated attack in Puget-sur-Argens, where a man with far-right affiliations killed his Tunisian neighbor and gravely injured a Turkish man.
The suspect, who was quickly arrested, had shared videos online pledging allegiance to the French flag and promoting anti-immigrant violence, Le Parisien reported.
France’s anti-terrorism prosecutors are treating the shooting as an act of terrorism, the first time a far-right, racist attack has been categorized as such since the office’s establishment in 2019.
In a separate incident in April, a Malian man was fatally stabbed in a mosque, with investigations ongoing.
France, home to the European Union’s largest Muslim population, has seen a sharp rise in anti-Muslim hate attacks in recent years.
In 2023, France recorded 828 anti-Muslim incidents, marking a 57% increase from the previous year, according to the annual report of the Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE).
Approximately 62% of these incidents occurred in public spaces, including schools, with educational institutions witnessing an 80.1% surge in such events.
Islamophobia extends to institutions and social structures.
Muslim job applicants in France are five times more likely to face discrimination compared to non-Muslims.
Muslim women who wear the hijab have a mere 1% chance of securing employment.
A recent study surveying 1,074 Muslims who left France found that over two-thirds emigrated to practice their religion more freely, while 70% cited escaping racism and discrimination as their primary motivation.
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