Southport Muslim Community Grapples with Rising Islamophobia One Year After Riots

Southport Muslim Community Grapples with Rising Islamophobia One Year After Riots
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A year after race riots ignited by online misinformation, Southport’s Muslim community continues to face a distressing rise in Islamophobic incidents, The Independent reported. The riots, sparked by false reports that the perpetrator of a deadly knife attack was a Muslim asylum seeker, led to a mob assault on the Southport Mosque.

Imam Ibrahim Hussein, chairman of the Southport Mosque, revealed a significant increase in reported Islamophobic incidents to the police over the past year, with six or seven cases compared to just three in the preceding three decades.

These incidents include objects being thrown at the mosque and cars being scratched, leaving the Muslim community feeling increasingly nervous and vigilant. This local surge in anti-Muslim hatred aligns with a broader trend of similar incidents targeting asylum seekers and other mosques across the UK. A charity monitoring Islamophobic incidents, Tell Mama, found that a majority of Muslims surveyed felt anti-Muslim hatred had become more widespread since last summer’s riots.