The European Union’s new Coordinator on combatting anti-Muslim hatred Marion Lalisse has expressed her strong determination to deal and tackle the rising Islamophobia in Europe through an evidence-based policy and by dialogue with the Muslim community and with multiple actors and experts.

"My approach will be to promote a race to the top, meaning that we will be there to share best practices among EU member states, to look at what works at local, national, European and international levels," she told a meeting with a small group of journalists, including KUNA, in Brussels Thursday evening.

"Acknowledging discrimination and hatred is already a big step forward," said the French diplomat who was appointed last February to her new post.

She noted that the EU and Sweden itself have condemned the recent burning of the Quran in Stockholm.

"We have complete plans to face this phenomenon of anti-Muslim hatred. On initiatives that we have on mind we will work with different actors and sectors, education, security, migration but many more," she said, sounding very determined and convincing.

"We will continue dialogue with various institutions, civil society actors, citizens and international organisations. And we will put in place evidence-based policy. We will raise awareness among citizens institutions about the phenomenon of anti-Muslim hatred," she said.

An experienced EU civil servant, Lalisee has significant experience in working closely with a wide range of civil society organisations inside the EU and in the Muslim world.

Lalisse served as deputy EU Ambassador to Yemen and held different positions at the EU Delegations to Ghana, Mauritania, Morocco and within the EU aid programme for the Turkish-Cypriot community.

She noted that the Muslim community in Europe is the biggest religious minority which is very diverse and stressed that "the Muslim community in Europe is an integral part of our society and its a vibrant community that contributes as all EU citizens to our EU project." But she admitted that discrimination exists in employment, housing, education, and access to private and public services "and hate crime, unfortunately, exists in politics, in the media and on the streets." Lalisse graduated from the School of Oriental and African Studies University of London, the College of Europe and University of Toulouse Le Mirail.

Regarding her own initiatives, she referred to her proposal to the decision makers in the EU to produce by the middle of next year a document that will entail a description of the mapping of the phenomenon of anti-Muslim hatred and that will also propose solutions.

"We are starting this with an informal group of experts from EU member states with diverse backgrounds and Muslims and researchers and academia and civil society organisations," she said.

"We will brainstorm together in Brussels and online to deal with this document that should be the first time ever that we will have such a reflection at the EU level with recommendations for the way forward," she said.

The EU’s new chief for anti-Muslim hatred emphasized the crucial role of the media in dealing with the phenomenon.

"We need a balanced coverage of the topic. The role of the press is key in supporting our efforts and I would like the press to be my strongest ally in this work in fighting discrimination in Europe," she stressed.

She said she would also look at law enforcement policies, noting that the recent events in France where a young boy of north African origin was shot and killed by police shows that it is crucial for the training of the police in overcoming biases and making sure that there is no unlawful profiling of citizens.

Within the EU institutions, she will support her colleagues in "making sure that our institutions are diverse and that colleagues can fully thrive regardless of their faith and other features." Asked by KUNA if she will have contacts with Muslim countries and Muslim officials to discuss her file, she replied "I do not have specific international focus" adding that she prefers to channel such contacts through the EU’s diplomatic service, called the European External Action Service.

She noted that they had "very constructive discussions" with the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), adding that "In this forum I can get a good understanding of the different views of OIC members."

Source: Kuwait News Agency