The head of a leading UK Muslim charity has said she is \u201cdeeply worried\u201d about the unprecedented levels of anxiety in the community as government data shows hate crimes against Muslims are up by nearly a fifth.<\/p>\n
Shaista Gohir, the cross-bench peer and head of the Muslim Women\u2019s Network has criticised ministers for being \u201csilent\u201d and called for a public government response to figures which she believes to be \u201can underestimation\u201d.<\/p>\n
Home Office figures, released on Thursday, showed recorded hate crime in England and Wales was rising for the first time in three years, including increases in racially and religiously motivated offences. In England and Wales, where 3.9 million people identify as Muslim, anti-Muslim hate crime rose from 2,690 offences to 3,199 in the 12 months to March 2025.<\/p>\n
The figures have been released one week on from the Manchester synagogue attack<\/a>, in which two people died and others were injured, and amid deepening fears of possible community flashpoints driven by the Israel-Gaza conflict.<\/p>\n The data also showed what the government called a \u201cclear spike\u201d in offences after the Southport murders last summer, which were followed by riots across the country.<\/p>\n However, Lady Gohir believes the true figures are higher, given escalations in recent months<\/a> and the normalisation of stereotyping and anti-Muslim rhetoric from politicians and public figures.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s an underestimation given what\u2019s happened over the last few weeks and months,\u201d she said, citing the East Sussex mosque which was set ablaze last weekend<\/a>, among other recent incidents targeting the Muslim or perceived Muslim communities<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019re deeply, deeply, worried. I don\u2019t remember a time in all my activism where so many Muslims are collectively deeply anxious and worried and depressed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so disappointed in the government, they\u2019re silent,\u201d added Gohir, who leads the Birmingham-based charity, which is the only national Muslim women\u2019s charity in the UK.<\/p>\n In the year ending March 2025, there were 137, 550 hate crimes recorded by police in England and Wales. Race hate crimes saw a 6% increase from the previous year, and religiously motivated hate crimes were up 3% from 6,973 to 7,164 \u2013 the highest annual total on record.<\/p>\n Mosques and community centres across the UK reported a spate of attacks on worshippers and property in July 2024 after social media-fuelled rumours claimed that the Southport attacker was Muslim. It later emerged that Axel Rudakubana, who murdered three young girls, was born into a Christian family and possessed anti-Islam literature.<\/p>\n On Thursday, an appeal court heard that a man who in February burned a Qur\u2019an outside the Turkish consulate in London was using his human right to free speech. In June, Hamit Coskun was found guilty of a religiously aggravated public order offence after shouting \u201cfuck Islam\u201d and \u201cIslam is religion of terrorism\u201d while holding the flaming religious text outside the consulate.<\/p>\n \u201cThe funny thing is, when it comes to voting in four years\u2019 time they will be then wanting to speak to Muslims. It\u2019ll be too late. We need support now, when we\u2019re actually enduring the worst possible time it is to be a Muslim in Britain,\u201d said Gohir. \u201cWhere is the condemnation from other parties as well?\u201d<\/p>\n Responding to the figures on Thursday, Shabana Mahmood said they showed \u201ctoo many people\u201d were living in fear, and announced an increase in police patrols at synagogues and mosques after the Manchester synagogue attack last week<\/a>, as well as \u00a350m to keep places of worship safe.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what\u2019s happening and why it matters<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, at a vigil for the victims of the Manchester synagogue terror attack. Photograph: Danny Lawson\/PA<\/p>\n The home secretary added: \u201cJewish and Muslim communities continue to experience unacceptable levels of often violent hate crime, and I will not tolerate British people being targeted simply because of their religion, race, or identity.\u201d<\/p>\n Gohir, who plans to meet Mahmood to discuss community safety, welcomed her statements and called on the government to condemn the rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes.<\/p>\n She added that places of worship need to be protected as a matter of course, but asked what the government would do to increase the safety and security of Muslims in their everyday life.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you look at what\u2019s happened collectively to Muslim communities, it\u2019s shocking,\u201d said Gohir. \u201cBasically, this government is sending a message to Muslims that we don\u2019t care about you and you don\u2019t really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n Ministers cautioned against the reported 18% fall in the number of religious hate crimes targeting Jewish people \u2013 from 2, 093 to 1,715 \u2013 as it excludes data from the Metropolitan police, Britain\u2019s largest police force, because of a change in their crime recording system. More than half of all British Jews live in London, according to the 2021 census.<\/p>\n