Muslims experience discrimination in the search for housing , Date: 2024.06.13, format: Report, area: Authority , Interreligious experiences lead to more positive attitudes towards other religions

Based on the study Muslim Life in Germany 2020 (MLD 2020), the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ) has published three studies. These focus on how Muslim and non-Muslim persons with a migration background from predominantly Muslim countries of origin feel about living together and belonging in Germany. For this, more than 4,500 people with a migration background were surveyed. The topics of interreligiousness, perceived discrimination and attitudes towards social life are covered in the three publications.

Interreligiousness and interreligious openness

Regarding attitudes towards other religions, one study shows that concrete interreligious experiences are associated with more positive perceptions. The example of Islam shows that people who are not Muslim but who have visited a mosque at least once or who have Muslim acquaintances are significantly less likely to fear that the influence of Islam is becoming too great in Germany.
Furthermore, knowledge of different religions is, among other things, linked to the size of the respective religion in Germany and in the respondents' or their parents' country of origin. For example, many interviewees with and without a migration background state that they know relatively much about Christianity – even if they do not belong to this religion. By contrast, people without a migration background tend to know less about Islam. Relatively few non-Jewish people claim to know much about Judaism.

Perceived discrimination

A third of Muslims with a migration background from a predominantly Muslim country of origin feel discriminated against in everyday situations several times a month or more often. This share is significantly higher than for people with no migration background. When it comes to finding housing, Muslims feel most affected by discrimination. One in two persons expressed this experience.
Those affected most often cited their origin or descent as the reason for discrimination. Their religion came a distant second. One explanation for these results is that a person's religious affiliation is generally unknown to third parties. It can therefore be assumed that people are often perceived as Muslim simply because of where they come from, which is reflected in their appearance, name or language.
Muslim women who wear a headscarf are more likely to feel discriminated against in all areas of life than Muslim women who do not wear a headscarf.

Attitudes about social belonging and social life

In many cases, the attitudes of people with and without a migration background are similar with regard to issues of belonging and social life, as the third study published shows. For example, social distance towards those seeking asylum is similarly pronounced in both groups. However, there are also differences in some attitudinal dimensions: For example, people without a migration background rate the integration prospects of Muslim immigrants as lower than people with a migration background from Muslim countries of origin.
The attitudes of people with a migration background are shaped, among other things, by their migration experience and immigration history. Some attitudes change over generations. For example, although they continue to be more socially distant from homosexuals than people without a migration background, members of subsequent generations are more open to homosexuals than the migrants themselves. Religious affiliation and believing are often not related to the attitudes under study. They are, however, when the attitudes themselves revolve around religion.

You can find these analyses here:

• Experiences of discrimination of people from predominantly Muslim countries of origin
• Interreligiousness and interreligious openness of people with a migration background from predominantly Muslim countries of origin
• Social belonging and social life. Attitudes in the population with a migration background from Muslim countries of origin