A populous western German state will open the country’s first anti-Muslim racism reporting centre in spring 2025, reports Anadolu Agency citing local media. The state of North Rhine-Westphalia, home to more than 1.7 million Muslims, will establish the centre, called MEDAR, to document and report attacks and crimes targeting Muslims.
The centre, which will be set up by the state government, will also track other racist activities directed at non-Muslim foreigners, public broadcaster WDR reported on Friday. Planned to open by March or April 2025, MEDAR is the fruit of three years of preparations.
North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany’s most populous state with a population of over 18 million, will become its first to launch a dedicated reporting centre for anti-Muslim incidents.
The state has witnessed several attacks on Muslims and their places of worship. In January 2022, numerous Muslim graves in the city of Iserlohn were vandalised, with headstones broken and overturned.
In April 2022, North Rhine-Westphalia also launched the Research and Information Centre on Anti-Semitism aimed at documenting antisemitic incidents across the region.
