Record rise in reports of 'hatred against Muslims' in London - Sarmad
London, the British capital, has recorded a notable surge in reports of hate and prejudice against Muslims, with the number of cases documented by the organization Tell Mama in the first half of this year surpassing the total reports registered throughout all of 2023, signaling a new indicator of rising Islamophobia in the capital.
According to British news agency PA Media, Tell Mama, an organization dedicated to monitoring hate incidents against Muslims, documented 1,031 reports between the beginning of January and the end of June 2026, compared to 1,028 reports registered throughout 2023.
The organization stated that the figures reveal a worrying upward trend in hate incidents against Muslims in London, with the number of reports rising from 313 cases in 2021 to 818 in 2022, before continuing to climb in subsequent years to reach a record high of 1,909 reports in 2025.
Tell Mama noted that these figures reflect an approximate sixfold increase in annual reports between 2021 and 2025, warning that behind each report is a person living in London who feels unsafe because of their religion.
The organization’s director, Iman Ataa, said the most alarming aspect is the upward trajectory of the numbers, explaining that the number of reports jumped from over 300 cases in 2021 to more than 1,000 cases in just the first six months of this year.
Ataa added that the increasing frequency of targeting, combined with high levels of anger directed at Muslims, leads victims to feel that their personal safety is threatened. She emphasized the need to adopt more serious strategies to confront extremism and hatred, rather than settling for what she described as “political trivialities.”
For its part, the British capital’s police force affirmed that it would not tolerate attacks targeting Muslims, stressing that combating hate crimes in all their forms remains a priority.
A police spokesperson said that efforts to combat racism and hate crimes against Muslims and other forms of hatred are ongoing, noting that police performance in handling these crimes has improved over the past 12 months.
He clarified that positive outcomes, including arrests and charges in cases of hate crimes against Muslims, rose by 57 percent during that period.
For his part, a spokesperson for the Mayor of London stated that “Islamophobia has no place whatsoever in London,” describing the rise in attacks against Muslims in the capital and across Britain as “abhorrent.”
He stressed that the capital’s police force has the full support of the Mayor of London in implementing a zero-tolerance policy toward these assaults.
These figures emerge as Britain faces growing debate over the rise in hate crimes and societal polarization, while rights organizations warn that the increase in religiously motivated assaults and threats could directly impact the sense of security among minorities in public spaces.
