A bunch of over two dozen US lawmakers have written to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging him to nominate a particular envoy to fight the alleged rise in assaults in opposition to the Muslim group in numerous components of the world together with China, India and Myanmar.
Terming Islamophobia a “global problem”, the lawmakers, of their letter written on Wednesday, referred to as for a complete technique for establishing US management in combating it worldwide.
They additionally advised that state-sponsored Islamophobic violence and impunity for such acts be included in subsequent yr’s annual human rights reviews.
The letter comes after the brand new findings of the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) confirmed that anti-Muslim hate was on the rise. They included over 500 documented complaints in 2021 alone.
These included a sudden rise in anti-mosque incidents in May and June involving circumstances of vandalism and an tried stabbing, and a number of other bodily assaults concentrating on Muslim ladies sporting hijab (spiritual head overlaying).
“As part of our commitment to international religious freedom and human rights, we must recognise Islamophobia as a pattern that is repeating in nearly every corner of the globe,” the lawmakers mentioned of their letter.
“It is past time for the United States to stand firmly in favour of religious freedom for all, and to give the global problem of Islamophobia the attention and prioritisation it deserves,” they mentioned.
The lawmakers mentioned, “From the ongoing atrocity crimes being committed against Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya in Burma (Myanmar), to the significant restrictions on Muslim populations in India and Sri Lanka, to the stoking of Islamophobia by political actors that is leading to violence in North American and Europe, to the severe human rights violations against certain sects of Muslims in Pakistan and Bahrain, this is a genuinely global problem that the United States should tackle globally.”
“For this reason, we are writing to strongly urge you to appoint a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Islamophobia, and to specifically include anti-Muslim violence per se in next year’s annual human rights reports,” they mentioned.
Separately, Congresswoman Ilahi Omar, who’s among the many lawmakers who wrote to Blinken, mentioned, “Anti-Muslim hate is on the rise both here at home and around the world.”
“This year has seen over 500 incidents of hate in the US and those are just the ones that have been reported,” she mentioned.
“Last month, we witnessed a deadly attack wipe out three generations of a Muslim family in Canada. In countries around the world, from China to India to Myanmar, Muslim communities are being discriminated against. We must all stand united against this horrific rise in hate,” she mentioned.
