November is Islamophobia Awareness Month (IAM) and this hate is on the rise under the Conservatives.
Religious hate crimes targeting Muslims rose by 28% in the last year – a shocking 42% of all recorded religious hate crimes in 2021-2022. Muslims formed the highest proportion of victims of religiously motivated hate crimes for each of the last five years. This is unacceptable.
The Conservative Government has performed U-turns at every opportunity, but this includes dropping the work they promised to do on developing a definition of Islamophobia. They have refused to adopt the APPG on British Muslims’ definition, refuse to develop their own definition, and many Conservatives refuse to even use the word ‘Islamophobia’.
They have failed to address Boris Johnson’s hateful comments about Muslim women in the past and failed to take serious action against Islamophobia allegations within their own party, even against their own MPs.
The soft-on-crime Tories are failing to tackle this vital issue. Labour stands united against this insidious hatred.
Across this month, I will continue pressing the Government to take urgent action against Islamophobia. I also have the opportunity to be involved with various events in the UK and in the EU on the issue.
This is what I have been up to in the past 10 days to highlight the need to address Islamophobia.
I started Islamophobia Awareness Month by raising a point of order to the House of Commons on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s failure to respond to my letter about Islamophobia.
Click here to have a look.
I, then, visited Glasgow Central Mosque with my friend and colleague, Scottish Labour Leader, Anas Sarwar. It was an absolute pleasure to see that the eco-mosque is a real trail blazer in the community. The visit to the mosque allowed me to gain an insight into how the British Muslim community is dedicated to tackling the climate crisis. I was also able to listen to different experiences of Islamophobia.
Click here to have a look.
I attended the annual International Uyghur Forum in Brussels. I spoke at the conference about the immoral actions of the Government to continue to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Uyghur Muslims. I engaged in constructive discussions on how to tackle Islamophobia and discrimination in Europe. It is important that we show our solidarity with our European Muslim communities.
Thank you @UyghurCongress for inviting me to speak at your annual conference.
The Gvt continues to turn a blind eye to the persecution of Uyghur Muslims, which is simply immoral.
It’s high time the international community takes appropriate action against China’s genocidal acts. pic.twitter.com/K3WVwVTFs7
— Afzal Khan MP (@Afzal4Gorton) November 10, 2022
I will continue to update you on what I am doing over this month to raise awareness and ensure that Muslims are treated respectfully across the UK.