Muslim discrimination dramatically increased in Netherlands last year

The number of incidents involving Muslim discrimination recorded by the police last year more than tripled comopared to 2014, according to a study by the Verwey-Jonker Institute, commissioned by the Anne Frank Foundations. The incidents increased from 142 in 2014 to 446 last year, ANP reports.

"The increase in the number of incidents of Muslim discrimination is likely a result of increased social tension around terrorist attacks in Western Europe and the arrival of Muslim asylum seekers", the foundation believes. There were a number of anti-asylum seeker protests and rallies last year.

The total number of incidents involving racism, antisemitism and right-wing extremist violence increased by 73 to 4,165 last year. The number of antisemitic incidents decreased from 76 in 2014 to 57 in 2015. The foundation thinks that this decrease can be linked to a decrease in violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.