LONDON: Islamophobic incidents in London during the first six months of the year exceeded figures for all of 2023, a monitoring group has warned.
The “alarming” statistics reveal a sixfold growth in annual cases from 2021 to 2025, Tell Mama said, warning that it reflects a “sustained escalation of anti-Muslim hate.”
Behind every incident reported to Tell Mama is a “Londoner who was made to feel unsafe simply because of their faith.”
In 2021, the number of reported incidents stood at 313. It more than doubled to 818 in 2022, before rising annually to a record 1,909 last year.
This year to the end of June, Tell Mama received 1,031 reports, exceeding the 1,028 logged for all of 2023.
It comes amid a series of controversial high-profile anti-Islam rallies in London. The most prominent was Unite the Kingdom, organized by anti-Islam campaigner Tommy Robinson.
His supporters gathered outside Parliament and called for the “removal of Islam,” while Robinson shared a video warning that “it’s time for many Muslims to leave this country.”
Tell Mama’s director, Iman Atta, said: “What is most alarming is the trajectory: from just over 300 reports in 2021 to nearly 1,100 in the first half of this year alone.
“A worrying rise in repeat victimisation and heightened levels of targeted anger are leaving victims with a fractured sense of personal safety, highlighting the urgent need for robust counter-extremism strategies rather than political platitudes.
“This is not a temporary blip, it is a sustained escalation of anti-Muslim hate, and it demands a sustained and uncompromising no-nonsense response from our public institutions.”
Separately, the British Muslim Trust recorded 70 attacks at Muslim places of worship across the UK in the year to July, The Independent reported. The figures included accounts of vandalism and intimidation.
A spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said in a statement: “We will not tolerate attacks on the Muslim community. Hate crime in all its forms — including ongoing efforts to tackle racism, anti-Muslim hate crime, and other forms of hatred in the capital — remains a core policing priority.
“Our focus on tackling these hateful offenders is starting to work, and in the last 12 months the Met has increased positive outcomes — including arrests and charges — for anti-Muslim hate crime by 57%.”
