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Non-Muslim men have been abused 'because they look Muslim'

Non muslim men have been targeted for their appearance (Picture: REX Features)
Non muslim men have been targeted for their appearance (Picture: REX Features)

New research has revealed how non-Muslim men living in the UK have suffered verbal and physical abuse because they ‘look Muslim’.

The research, conducted by researchers by Birmingham City University, saw interviewees recalling how animal excrement was pushed through their mailboxes, while others revealed how their shop windows were smashed.

Some interviewees also recalled how they were called terrorists or likened to Isis because of their beards or colour.

Dr Imran Awan and Dr Irene Tempi presented the research at the House of Commons during Hate Crime Awareness Week and also revealed that their study supported claims of increased hostility after the EU referendum.

Speaking to The Independent, Dr Awan, Associate Professor of Criminology at Birmingham City University, said: ‘Although it’s a case of mistaken identity, Islamophobic abuse should not be happening in the first place.’

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Specifically, one respondent recalled how they were sent an online message which read ‘Vote Out. Kick out the Muslims.’

Another spoke of being told ‘Today is the day we get rid of the likes of you’, only days after the result of the Brexit referendum.

Some also argued that Donald Trump’s administration had encourage anti-Muslim sentiment.

‘Trump really changed everything, didn’t he?’, one interviewee said. ‘He is so blatantly racist and anti-Muslim that he changed the climate completely.’

Now, Dr Awan and Dr Zempi have argued that social media could be used to harness the issue, with a proposed app being potentially used to report hate crimes across the UK.