Friday

29th Sep 2023

French official to take on Islamophobia in EU

  • One in three of Europe's 19 million Muslims feel they have experienced discrimination (Photo: Ferdaus Chia)
Listen to article

The EU has appointed a new anti-Islamophobia coordinator after an 18-month long gap which attracted criticism from Muslim rights groups.

Marion Lalisse, an EU official of French origin, said on Twitter she was "honoured" to take up the post dealing with an "important topic that requires our joint efforts and commitment".

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

Lalisse's job would be to "ensure that measures are taken to combat hatred, as well as structural and individual discrimination against Muslims," said EU equality commissioner Helena Dalli.

"We must combat Islamophobia in all areas, including education, employment and social policy. We must also collect data on all cases of Islamophobia and discrimination against Muslims and monitor and combat any such manifestations," Dalli added.

Lalisse had previously worked as a diplomat in EU missions in Yemen, Ghana, Mauritania, and Morocco, as well as dealing with European aid to Turkish Cypriots, putting her in touch with "a wide range of civil society organisations in the EU and in the Muslim world," the EU Commission said.

She also speaks Arabic and graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London.

Lalisse is to work alongside two other EU officials, Michaela Moua and Katherina von Schnurbein, dealing with combatting racism and antisemitism.

Each one has an annual budget of €180,000 a year to spend on holding workshops, meetings, and studies.

Von Schnurbein also has three dedicated staff members to help her fight antisemitism, while Moua and the previous anti-Islamophobia coordinator worked alone.

The Commission declined to say if Lalisse would get her own staff.

Her appointment comes 18 months after the post was left vacant in July 2021.

The Commission never explained why the recruitment process took so long in replies to previous questions by EUobserver.

It said only that other EU officials in the justice and consumer rights departments had been doing the work informally during this time.

But the hiatus had attracted criticism, for instance by a network of 41 NGOs writing in EUobserver last summer.

The lack of progress had indicated EU institutions had a "hierarchy" of concern, in which antisemitism was placed above anti-Muslim hatred, they said.

The EU is home to about 19 million Muslims, which make up 6 percent of its population, according to estimates by the European Network Against Racism (Enar), a Brussels-based NGO.

Surveys by the European Union's Fundamental Rights Agency in Vienna indicate one in three Muslims had experienced discrimination in the past 12 months.

The most Islamophobic incidents in Europe were recorded in France, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, an intergovernmental body based in Saudi Arabia, said in a report last year.

Column

Will Poles vote for the end of democracy?

International media must make clear that these are not fair, democratic elections. The flawed race should be the story at least as much as the race itself.

Opinion

Orbán's 'revenge law' is an Orwellian crackdown on education

On Tuesday, the Hungarian parliament passed a troubling piece of legislation known by its critics as the 'revenge law', which aims to punish and intimidate teachers who dare to defy Viktor Orbán's regime. This law is a brutally oppressive tool.

Latest News

  1. EU women promised new dawn under anti-violence pact
  2. Three steps EU can take to halt Azerbaijan's mafia-style bullying
  3. Punish Belarus too for aiding Putin's Ukraine war
  4. Added-value for Russia diamond ban, as G7 and EU prepare sanctions
  5. EU states to agree on asylum crisis bill, say EU officials
  6. Poland's culture of fear after three years of abortion 'ban'
  7. Time for a reset: EU regional funding needs overhauling
  8. Germany tightens police checks on Czech and Polish border

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  2. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  6. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us