Seven out of 10 UK Muslims 'experience Islamophobia' in their place of employment: survey

Some 7 out of 10 Muslims in the UK have experienced Islamophobia in the workplace, a survey revealed on Tuesday.

The poll showed that 69 percent of working British Muslims have faced varying forms of Islamophobic behaviours or actions in employment-related activities, chiefly face-to-face interactions with clients, customers, as well as encounters with other people, work-related gatherings, and when asking for promotions.

The survey was conducted by the polling company Savanta ComRes, which was commissioned by Hyphen, an organisation and online publication that focuses on issues affecting Muslims across the UK  and Europe.

A total of 1,503 British Muslims were interviewed between 22 April and 11 May this year in order to compile data which represents the county's Muslim population according to age, gender, ethnicity, and local regions, reported the Turkish daily Anadolu Agency.

The survey also found that Black Muslims were the most impacted by Islamophobic discrimination, in comparison to other Muslims.

For instance, 58 percent of Black Muslims recounted discriminative occurrences at the recruitment stage, while 37 percent of non-Black Muslims reported similar experiences.

Meanwhile, Muslims are also facing greater rates of poverty as the UK grapples with higher costs of living. Some 54 percent said that affording basic necessities such as fuel, electricity and groceries is proving to be a bigger challenge in comparison to recent years.

During Ramadan this year, the Muslim Council of Britain stated that almost half of the country's Muslims did not have enough food to break their fast during the holy month, as increasing inflation causes food price surges.

However, 55 percent feel that there are better opportunities enabling Muslims to find success in the UK, and 58 percent expressed that young Muslims currently have more role models to look up to.

This is not the first case of Islamophobia targeting British Muslims.

The independent watchdog NHS Race and Health Observatory reported that UK Muslims, especially women, were faced with an "overwhelming evidence of ethnic health inequality through the lens of racism" in the NHS healthcare system.

Earlier this year, the University of Birmingham concluded that Britons from upper and middle-class backgrounds were more likely to hold prejudiced views against Muslims, accounting for 23.3 percent of 1,667 surveyed adults.

This was in comparison to 23.2 individuals with working-class occupational backgrounds, following a survey conducted by pollster YouGov.