The number of Muslims in Europe reaches 44m: Serious concerns raised about the challenges of integration following attacks on Paris
- Germany and France have biggest Muslim population in Europe with 4.7m
- UK has around 2.9m Muslims - the third largest number on the continent
- Paris and its metropolitan area also has more Muslims than any other city
- Partly due to legacy of the war for Algeria, France’s Muslim former colony
The Muslim share of Europe’s total
population has been increasing steadily by about 1 percentage point a
decade – from 4 per cent in 1990 to 6 per cent in 2010
The Paris attacks have drawn renewed attention to Europe’s growing Muslim population.
In
several European countries such as Germany and the Netherlands, serious
concerns have been raised about the challenges of integration.
The
Muslim share of Europe’s total population has been increasing steadily
by about 1 percentage point a decade – from 4 per cent in 1990 to 6 per
cent in 2010.
According
to the US-based Pew Research Center think-tank, the number of Muslims
in Europe is about 44million. Within EU countries, the figure is around
19million.
In Europe, Russia’s population of 14million Muslims – 10 per cent of its total – is the largest on the continent.
In
the EU, Germany and France have the biggest Muslim populations, both
being home to around 4.7million. By contrast, the UK has about
2.9million Muslims – the third largest number.
However,
at 7.5 per cent of the population, France has the highest proportion of
Muslims of any major nation in Western Europe. Studies suggest this
will pass 10 per cent by 2030. Muslims make up 6 per cent of the
population in the Netherlands, 5.9 per cent in Belgium, 5.8 per cent in
Germany and 4.8 per cent in the UK.
The
French capital of Paris and its metropolitan area also has more Muslims
than any other city in the EU – an estimated 1.7million. This is partly
due to the legacy of the bitter war for Algeria, France’s Muslim former
colony, in the 1950s.
Tensions
surrounding France’s Muslim community have long been simmering in the
banlieues – vast concrete slums dominated by immigrants.
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condemning the Paris attacks
This
has led commentators to question whether these Paris suburbs are an
‘incubator for terrorism’. It also helps to explain why Paris appears to
be a more fruitful recruiting ground for Islamic State than cities in
some other western countries.
Despite
a number of anti-radicalisation campaigns by the French authorities,
the government has seemingly been unable to prevent considerable numbers
of young Muslims veering towards extremism.
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Earlier
this year, a report by King’s College London’s International Centre for
the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence found that only
Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Russia and Jordan had more of their own fighting
with IS than France. According to the study, an estimated 1,200 fighters
travelled from France to wage jihad, compared to around 600 from the
UK, although this figure could be even higher.
Home-grown
terror in France has been blamed on resentment among some disaffected
young Muslims, who often face discrimination in employment and housing.
A victim under a blanket lays dead outside the Bataclan theatre in Paris where 86 concert-goers were massacred by jihadi gunmen
French special forces evacuate people,
including an injured man holding his head, as people gather near the
Bataclan concert hall following fatal shootings
Last
year, a survey by ICM Research for the Russian news agency Rossiya
Segodnya found a shocking one in six French citizens supported IS.
However, a Pew Research Center poll from 2009 found 35 per cent of
French Muslims were concerned about Islamic extremism. Among British
Muslims, the figure was 52 per cent.
Yesterday, a London-based Muslim group caused outrage by blaming the West for Friday night’s attacks in Paris.
The
Islamic Human Rights Commission, which has called for the release of
terror chiefs, said the atrocity was fuelled by ‘unethical’ western
foreign policy.
Mourners light candles and gather together as they tribute to the victims of the Paris attacks
Chaos and panic descended onto the streets of Paris as security services desperately tried to regain control of the city
It
said in a statement: ‘The cold-blooded murder of scores of innocent
civilians ... can find no justification anywhere, let alone in the
tenets of a world faith followed by over one-and-a-half billion people.
‘However
we should not let our anger and condemnation of a depraved group
obscure the fact that western intervention in the Middle East is
responsible for both the origins and continued strength of [IS].’
Other
UK groups such as the Muslim Council of Britain roundly condemned the
terror attacks. And Muslims in Luton took to the streets to show their
outrage, many with signs reading ‘Not In My Name’.
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