PARIS: Religion-based hate crimes including racist, xenophobic have increased 32 percent in France last year, said the government figures on Wednesday, with a spike after Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza on October 7.
Police recorded 8,500 crimes and wrongdoings committed due to the nationality, ethnicity, race or religion across 2023, the Interior Ministry’s said.
The statisticians recorded a hike by the end of the year. There were twice as many hate crimes recorded in October-December as in the same period in 2022.
According to the report the spike can be witnessed from October, with a level of offenses holding at the same high level in November before decreasing in December.
France’s Representative Council of Jewish Institutions had said in January it documented four times more anti-Semitic acts last year as compared to 2022, at 1,676, with an increase in numbers after October 7.
It said that people especially men aged 25 to 54, and citizens of African nations were targeted mainly. However only four percent of the victims filed a complaint.
