During the second week or so of Islamophobia Awareness Month, I continued to press the Government to urgently take action against Islamophobia. As well as this, I attended many insightful events and engaged in further discussions highlighting the importance of raising awareness about Islamophobia.
Below I have shared an overview of what I have been up to for the last 10 days to illuminate the need to address and learn more about Islamophobia.
Islamophobia is undoubtedly on the rise under the Tories. So I asked the Home Secretary what the Government’s plan are to root out this insidious hatred toward our British Muslim Community. The Home Office figures indicate that British Muslims are victims of the highest number of hate crimes. Action needs to be taken to tackle Islamophobia in our country.
You can watch me ask my question in The House of Commons by clicking here.
I met with the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of Human Rights, Mary Lawlor, and had an insightful discussion about the persecution of religious minorities abroad and Islamophobia. It was a pleasure to speak to her about these serious issues. It is totally unacceptable that Muslims form the highest proportion of victims of religiously motivated hate crimes for the last five years.
A pleasure to meet with the @UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders, Mary Lawlor.
We discussed the persecution of religious minorities abroad and the concerning rise of Islamophobia internationally.#IAM2022 pic.twitter.com/q369u835d1
— Afzal Khan MP (@Afzal4Gorton) November 15, 2022
On Thursday afternoon, I hosted an ‘Islam and the Environment Event’ at the British Muslim Heritage Centre in Whalley Range. This event was a fantastic opportunity to bring together elected officials from all levels, council officers, environmental activist and Muslim leaders from Manchester together to discuss the importance of climate action amongst the Muslim community and what we can do together to effectively make a difference.
Read more about this event by clicking here.
In order to address and combat Islamophobia, it is vital that we understand it. This is why I attended training sessions on Islamophobia Awareness along with other UK Labour members.
Have a look by clicking here.
Then, I engaged in a relevant and important roundtable discussion with UK and Turkish Parliamentarians about the growing levels of Islamophobia in Europe and the ways we can challenge and combat discrimination.
It was valuable to have a roundtable discussion with UK and Turkish Parliamentarians.
We talked about the growing levels of Islamophobia in Europe and how to tackle discrimination.#IAM2022 pic.twitter.com/pjHUKKgB9T
— Afzal Khan MP (@Afzal4Gorton) November 18, 2022
You can have a look at what I got up to last week during Islamophobia Awareness Month by clicking here.