US Muslims urge Biden to appoint envoy to combat Islamophobia

A US coalition of Muslim organisations has issued an appeal for President Joe Biden to institute a new role to monitor and combat Islamophobia, which they fear is on the rise around the globe.

The US Council of Muslim Organisations (USCMO), an umbrella organisation that unites over 80 Muslim groups, called for the creation of an envoy position to signal that anti-Muslim sentiment will not be tolerated.

"From here in America to France to China to Myanmar to India, anti-Muslim bigotry plays an interconnected threat to Muslims worldwide," the organisation said in a letter, initially sent to the White House privately on 29 January.

USCMO said it did not receive a response or acknowledgement from Washington and decided to take the call public.

Biden has repeatedly expressed solidarity with Muslim victims of discrimination in the US.

“Muslim Americans continue to be targeted by bullying, bigotry and hate crimes," Biden said last month as Muslims began the holy month of Ramadan.
"This prejudice and these attacks are wrong. They are unacceptable. And they must stop. No one in America should ever live in fear of expressing his or her faith. And my administration will work tirelessly to protect the rights and safety of all people.”

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One of Biden’s first decisions in office was to repeal a 2017 executive order by former President Donald Trump that prevented nationals of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US.

Islamophobia in the US has increased ever since the 9/11 attacks in 2001. The Council on American-Islamic Relations found that the election of former president Trump in 2016 also resulted in a “sharp rise” in discrimination against “innocent Muslims, innocent immigrants and mosques.”

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