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Monday, May 15 2006 @ 08:52 AM Central Daylight Time
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The General Secretariat of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) has said in a statement that it is concerned about the rising trend of inter-ethnic tensions and hate crimes targeting mainly Muslim immigrants in Europe.
The OIC on Sunday warned that xenophobic, racist and Islamophobic sentiments were being fuelled by anti-immigrant and far-right political parties of Europe. The OIC also condemned the increasing violent attacks against immigrants in Belgium, and called on the authorities to take immediate action by recognizing and addressing the root of the problems.
The OIC General Secretariat condemned the racially-motivated killings in Antwerp on 11 May 2006.
Last Thursday a Belgian teenager attacked an ethnic Turkish woman before going on to kill a black woman and her 8-year old child in the city of Antwerp on Thursday.
Two weeks ago, a racist mob attacked and injured two African-origin Belgians. The home of a 6-member Moroccan family was set on fire in an arson attack in the city of Courtai in Belgium. They were rescued from the blaze by passers-by.
Ethnic Turks have faced similar attacks across Europe, in a wave of rising xenophobia in the continent.
A German citizen of Turkish origin was shot dead outside a discotheque in the German city of Essen. The previous weekend in the French city of Nevers, three Turkish youths were injured -one seriously- when security personnel at a disco opened fire on them with a pump-action shotgun.
The Muslim body said it was worried that European anti-immigrant parties were advocating racist policies and increasing their appeal to the masses while many mainstream political parties were also opting to adopt xenophobic slogans of the far-right in order to increase their popularity. The OIC stated that these policies were leading to an erosion of inter-communal tolerance and were inciting hatred.
"The disturbing anti-immigrant, racist, xenophobic and Islamophobic tendencies in Europe should be combated in order to facilitate the joint actions aimed at reaching mutually desired goals through dialogue, mutual respect, mutual recognition, tolerance and cooperation, in the service of global peace and stability," OIC added. |
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