Right-Wing Publications Pick Up on Pew Research Center’s Findings that Europe’s Muslim Population is set to Grow

A November 2017 report from the Pew Research Center states that “Muslims are projected to increase as a share of Europe’s population – even with no further migration”[1]. Right-wing organisations and outlets have picked up on the report’s projections.

An article on the Gatestone Institute’s website writes that the Pew Center’s projections undercount the number of Muslims currently in Europe, and that it “entirely ignores the key issue of how Europe will integrate tens of millions of Muslim migrants whose values – including anti-Semitism, polygamy, female genital mutilation and honor violence – cannot be reconciled with those of Europe’s Judeo-Christian and liberal-democratic heritage”. The article expresses concern with what it considers the resulting “Islamization of Europe” and criticises the Pew report as part of a “political climate marked by dogmatic multiculturalism and political correctness”[2].

The Russian publication, Sputnik News, discusses the results of the Pew Center’s survey with Guglielmo Picchi, who is described as “one of the founders of the Machiavelli Center and a member of the Italian Parliament and vice chairman of the OSCE’s Parliamentary Assembly”. Picchi states that Muslims are migrating to Europe for economic reasons and not for asylum reasons, which is presented as a negative point. He also states that the tendency for Muslim families to have more children than those of other religious groups strengthens Muslim culture and community and thus threatens the existing culture of their home country. According to Picchi, this can be seen in Italy where there is an issue “with the Muslim community, who are unfortunately not very willing to integrate themselves with the rest of the population”. He also explains that these large numbers of children could have a negative effect on the European welfare system and social security system. Picchi states that to counter this, Muslims must be given the ultimatum to either accept existing Western culture or to return home, saying “[i]t’s not that we have to redefine our history or our identity just because [Muslims] are the newcomer”[3].

A Breitbart article, written by a Dutch MP, states that the survey’s projection that the number of Muslims in Europe will continue to rise signifies that “[t]he bell is tolling for Europe … If Europe fails to make a stand, its Judeo-Christian civilization is about to be blown away”, adding that “[m]ore Islam means more violence and intolerance”. It states that migration should be halted, illegal Islamic migrants repatriated, and Europe should be made “unwelcoming” to Muslims[4].

[1] Pew Research Center, 2017; see also Hackett, 2017; Lipka, 2017; Masci, 2017.

[2] Kern, 2017.

[3] Sputnik News, 2017.

[4] Wilders, 2017.

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Sources

Hackett, C. (2017) ‘5 facts about the Muslim population in Europe’. [online] 29 November. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/29/5-facts-about-the-muslim-population-in-europe/.

Kern, S. (2017) ‘How Many Muslims in Europe? Pew’s Projections Fall Short’. [online] 14 December. https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/11545/how-many-muslims-in-europe.

Lipka, M. (2017) ‘Europe’s Muslim population will continue to grow – but how much depends on migration’. [online] 4 December. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/12/04/europes-muslim-population-will-continue-to-grow-but-how-much-depends-on-migration/.

Masci, D. (2017) ’Q&A: The challenges of estimating the size of Europe’s Muslim population’. [online] 30 November. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/11/30/qa-the-challenges-of-estimating-the-size-of-europes-muslim-population/.

Pew Research Center. (2017) ‘Europe’s Growing Muslim Population’. [online] 28 November. http://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/29/europes-growing-muslim-population/.

Sputnik News. (2017) ‘Rising Migrant Population: Muslims Unwilling to ‘Integrate with Locals’’. [online] 1 December. https://sputniknews.com/analysis/201712011059619367-muslim-migrants-europe-integration/.

Wilders, G. (2017) ’Wilders: The Pew Report on Muslim Migration to Europe is a Wake-Up Call – It is Time to Get Tough’. [online] 11 December. http://www.breitbart.com/london/2017/12/11/wilders-europe-time-get-tough/.