U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) and 24 House colleagues have called on U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to create a special envoy to combat Islamophobia. The Members’ letter to Secretary Blinken cites the recent rise in attacks against the Muslim community. 

“As part of our commitment to international religious freedom and human rights, we must recognize Islamophobia as a pattern that is repeating in nearly every corner of the globe,” the Members wrote. “From the ongoing atrocity crimes being committed against Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya in Burma, to the significant restrictions on Muslim populations in India and Sri Lanka, to the stoking of Islamophobia by political actors that is leading to violence in North American and Europe, to the severe human rights violations against certain sects of Muslims in Pakistan and Bahrain, this is a genuinely global problem that the United States should tackle globally.

The Members continued, “we are writing to strongly urge you to appoint a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Islamophobia, and to specifically include anti-Muslim violence per se in next year’s annual human rights reports. It is past time for the United States to stand firmly in favor of religious freedom for all, and to give the global problem of Islamophobia the attention and prioritization it deserves.”

The Members’ full letter to Secretary Blinken can be viewed here, the text of which is provided below.

July 20, 2021

Dear Secretary Blinken, 

In recent years, we have seen a dramatic increase in violent Islamophobia and the persecution of Muslims manifesting itself around the world. In its 2021 annual report, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) identified three Countries of Particular Concern primarily for their treatment of Muslims. Several additional countries listed by USCIRF were identified as having patterns of mistreatment and human rights violations against either their entire Muslim populations or particular sects of Muslims. This includes several Muslim-majority countries. 

In addition to state-sponsored policies of Islamophobia, we have seen a disturbing rise in incidents of Islamophobic violence committed by individuals connected to larger transnational white supremacist networks, including but by no means limited to the mosque shooting in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2019 and the recent murder of a Muslim Canadian family in London, Ontario. 

As part of our commitment to international religious freedom and human rights, we must recognize Islamophobia as a pattern that is repeating in nearly every corner of the globe. From the ongoing atrocity crimes being committed against Uyghurs in China and the Rohingya in Burma, to the significant restrictions on Muslim populations in India and Sri Lanka, to the stoking of Islamophobia by political actors that is leading to violence in North American and Europe, to the severe human rights violations against certain sects of Muslims in Pakistan and Bahrain, this is a genuinely global problem that the United States should tackle globally. 

For this reason, we are writing to strongly urge you to appoint a Special Envoy for Monitoring and Combatting Islamophobia, and to specifically include anti-Muslim violence per se in next year’s annual human rights reports. It is past time for the United States to stand firmly in favor of religious freedom for all, and to give the global problem of Islamophobia the attention and prioritization it deserves. 

We look forward to working together to pursue our shared values of religious freedom and human rights. 

Sincerely,