Austrian Muslims will sue government over “Islam map” and Islamophobia News

Austrian Muslim groups oppose the government by identifying the locations of mosques and Islamic associations in the country.

A leading Austrian Muslim group has said it intends to file a lawsuit against the government of Chancellor Sebastian Kurz for exposing the controversial “Islam map”, according to Austrian media.

Austria’s Muslim youth condemned the government for publishing a “political map of Islam” that identifies the locations of mosques and Muslim associations in the country.

“The publication of all the names, functions and addresses of Muslim institutions and organizations that have been read as Muslim means overstepping unprecedented limits,” the group said on Saturday.

Integration Minister Susanne Raab on Thursday launched a website called the National Map of Islam, with the names and locations of more than 620 mosques, associations and officials, and possible links abroad.

The Austrian Islamic Religious Community (IGGOE) group warned against stigmatizing all Muslims living in Austria as a “potential risk to society and the democratic legal order of the country”.

The IGGOE added that this campaign encourages racism and puts “Muslim citizens at grave security risk”.

The Austrian chancellor has repeatedly thrown out what he calls “political Islam”.

According to the integration minister, the map was not intended to “put Muslims in suspicion in general”.

The goal is to “confront political ideologies, not religion,” he said.

Reports of attacks on Muslims in Austria have risen since the deadly bombing in Vienna last November.

The map has created tensions between Kurzen’s conservative Austrian People’s Party and his coalition partner Green Party.

Faika El-Nagashi, a spokeswoman for Austria’s Green Party for Integration and Diversity, wrote on Twitter on Thursday that no party members had participated in it or had previously reported it.

He added that the project is “contrary to what integration policies and dialogues should be.”

In a statement posted to Twitter on Saturday, Turkey’s foreign ministry said Austria’s “xenophobic, racist and anti-Islamist policies are poisoning social cohesion and participation.”

“It is important that Austria stops targeting immigrants and Muslims by labeling them and adopting a responsible policy,” he said.

German Evangelical Lutheran Bishop Michael Chalupka also expressed concern and asked Raab to cancel the website.