With the rise of hate crimes against Muslims worldwide, a group of Democratic lawmakers led by Rep. Ilhan Omar is calling on Secretary of State Antony Blinken to create a special envoy to combat Islamophobia and to include state sponsored Islamophobic violence in next year’s annual human rights reports, CNN learns.
The group pointed that a special envoy will mirror what the Department of State created to investigate and fight anti-Semitism.
The lawmakers wrote that Islamophobia as a pattern is repeating in nearly every corner of the globe, pointing it is past time for the US to stand firmly in favor of religious freedom for all .
Omar, one of three Muslims serving in Congress, co-signed the letter with Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois and 23 other Democrats, trying to make the case for why the US needs to take a larger role in monitoring Islamophobic incidents around the world.
According to 2021 annual report from the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) China, India and Burma, had patterns of mistreatment and human rights violations against either their entire Muslim populations or particular sects of Muslims, but the group points to a rising number of individuals connected to larger White supremacist networks as perpetrators of Islamophobia in the US.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations’ report points to increased hate crimes against Muslims, particularly in the wake of the heightened conflict between Israel and Gaza in May.
Omar pointed that over 500 incidents of hate has been reported in the US this year along with the discrimination against the Muslim communities, calling for all to stand against this horrific rise in hate.
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