By Staff, Agencies

A new survey has laid bare the extent of entrenched racism and discrimination against Muslims in France, showing that eight out of ten believe hatred toward them is now widespread and steadily increasing.

The poll, carried out by Ifop among a representative sample of one thousand Muslims, was commissioned by the newly established Observatory of Discrimination Against Muslims in France.

Its findings reveal that 82% of respondents believe hostility against Muslims is pervasive, while 81% said it has grown worse over the past decade.

Two-thirds [66%] reported personally experiencing racist behavior in the past five years, compared with only 20% of the general French population and 18% of followers of other faiths.

Women wearing the hijab, young people under 25, those with strong accents and Muslims of sub-Saharan origin reported the highest levels of abuse, with figures exceeding 75% in each category.

Religious discrimination was also found to be widespread. More than half of Muslims said they faced bias during job applications and police checks, while nearly half reported discrimination when seeking housing.

Even public services—supposedly bound by neutrality—were shown to perpetuate exclusion. Thirty-six percent of respondents cited mistreatment by public officials, 29% by healthcare workers, and 38% by teachers.

Chems-Eddine Hafiz, rector of the Paris Grand Mosque, called for urgent action, coining the term “Muslimophobia” to better capture hostility targeting Muslims as people rather than Islam as a religion. “The fight against Muslimophobia is not a community demand. It is a matter of national security and republican cohesion,” Hafiz declared, warning that a republic that tolerates such inequality “betrays its very foundations”.

Francois Kraus, head of politics at Ifop, emphasized that “Muslimophobia structures the social experience of French Muslims in all areas of their lives. This generates collective anxiety”.

According to the survey, half of Muslims now fear being attacked because of their faith, a number that rises to two-thirds among veiled women.

The fear of worsening conditions is acute: 75% expect further escalation in anti-Muslim hatred, while 64% worry about new restrictions on religious freedoms—figures that reach 81% among women wearing the hijab, amid ongoing bans on Islamic garments in schools, sports, and other public spaces.

Official figures confirm a sharp increase. Between January and May 2025, anti-Muslim acts rose by 75% compared with the same period last year, according to the French Interior Ministry. Despite this surge, most racist attacks remain underreported, particularly those targeting Muslims.

To address this gap, the Paris Grand Mosque and Ifop launched the Observatory of Discrimination Against Muslims, aiming to provide systematic data beyond the fragmented complaints collected by NGOs and police. Yet, even now, only two-thirds of Muslims say they would consider filing a complaint in cases of discrimination—underscoring the lack of faith in state institutions.

With France home to an estimated 5–6 million Muslims—the country’s second-largest religious community—the findings paint a stark picture of systemic exclusion, rising hostility, and a government accused of failing to protect its citizens.