January 20, 2016•Update: January 21, 2016
PARIS
Figures quoted by France's interior minister is pointing to an increase in hate crimes in the country.
Recorded anti-Muslim acts more than doubled during 2015, anti-Semitic assaults remained at an already-high level and attacks on Christian sites rose by a fifth, the country’s interior minister said on Wednesday.
In an interview with French daily La Croix, Bernard Cazeneuve said for the full year 2015 “anti-Semitic acts decreased by five percent between 2014 and 2015”. However, they remain "at a high level, with 806 recorded acts".
The minister said incidents against Muslims increased by 223 percent – a level of nearly 400 recorded acts – and “those against Catholics increased by 20 percent”.
Of the anti-Muslim attacks, 178 were registered in Jan. 2015 alone. These followed gun attacks on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a kosher store in Paris, Cazeneuve explained.
However, Abdallah Zekri, president of France’s Collective Against Islamophobia (CCIF), said the organization had recorded 704 anti-Muslim acts in 2014, against 905 in 2015.
He explained the difference in statistics by saying the interior ministry counted only officially recorded complaints.
Zekri said these were the highest level of attacks since the CCIF was established in 2011.
“Islamophobia must be fought and condemned, not only by Muslims, but also by the national community as a whole,” he added.
