SNP MP meets local Muslim groups to discuss tackling Islamophobia

The Dunfermline Press reports that sixty hate crime offences occurred in Fife in the six weeks following the Paris massacre on 13 November 2015.

The figures obtained by SNP MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath, Roger Mullin, under an FOI request shows there were 60 hate crimes in Fife between November 12 and December 31 last year.

Mr Mullin who was meeting with members of the Kirkcaldy Islamic Centre and Kirkcaldy Central Mosque, in an attempt to help improve links and discuss issues with the local Muslim community, said “Although this figure refers to all hate crime covered under Lord Advocate’s guidelines of offences aggravated against prejudice, the statistics are concerning, particularly in the wake of the recent terror attacks in Brussels.”

“The Muslim community should not fear reprisals as a consequence of actions perpetrated by organised terror groups and individuals, who claim to be religiously motivated but through their callous actions appear to have no real understanding of the Islamic faith,” he added.

In the week following the Paris attacks, Scotland’s Deputy Chief Constable Iain Livingstone said there had been a spike in racial and religious hate crimes with 64 incidents reported to the police. A number of Islamophobic incidents counted among them including an incident of serious assault on a takeaway shop owner in Fifeand the firebombing of a cultural centreused by Muslims in Bishopbriggs.

Police Scotland launched a hate crime awareness campaign last August to encourage victims of hate crime to report incidents to the police. It was followed by the launch of a ‘Transport Charter’ aimed at tackling hate crime on public transport networks in Scotland in September 2015.