British Muslims: From cultural assimilation to social integration

This chapter investigates anti-Muslim sentiment as expressed by xenophobic groups whose political representation had, since the start of the Eurozone crisis in 2009, increased in the European Union (EU), and the issue of political empowerment of Muslims whose participation in the national legislatures increased over the same period. In May 2012, the European Commission against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) found that damaging austerity measures and high unemployment in the Eurozone countries have fuelled the rise in intolerance and racially motivated attacks in Europe. European collective institutions, such as the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, started to include Muslim organisations, more than ever before, in policy consultations and inter-faith dialogue initiatives. The host governments in Western Europe saw Turkish and other Mediterranean labourers who migrated to Western Europe as temporary residents rather than as prospective citizens.