21 February 2012

Muslim hate crime phone line aims to help victims

A first UK helpline for victims of Islamophobia is being set up amid concerns that incidents are not being reported or properly categorised.

Last year 2,000 hate crimes were recorded against different faiths in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Police say it is unclear how many were against Muslims as separate figures were not recorded.

Faith Matters, a non-profit group, hopes to show the scale of the problem and provide support for victims.

"Many people think that Islamophobic crime does not exist. They say: 'Where is the data?'" said the director of Faith Matters, Fiyaz Mughal. [BBC] Read more