Rabat – Racist, xenophobic, and anti-religious crimes and offenses in France rose by 32% in 2023, according to data from the French Ministry of the Interior.
According to the official data released on Wednesday, a total of 8,850 victims were recorded by security services. Individuals aged 25 to 54 and foreign nationals from African countries were notably overrepresented among the victims.
Much like in previous years, the majority of these crimes, offenses, and misdemeanors concern insults, provocations, or defamation (61% of offenses and almost all misdemeanors). Meanwhile, racist misdemeanors only increased by 4% between 2022 and 2023.
Despite the alarming rise in such incidents, the report highlights a concerning trend of underreporting, with only a mere 4% of victims choosing to file complaints at police stations in 2021.
The statistical service of the Ministry of the Interior further revealed that a significant portion of these offenses, approximately 4,200, were attributed to individuals, with more than half falling within the age range of 25 to 54.
In a broader context, the data revealed that a total of nearly 15,000 offenses were reported throughout French territory in 2023, encompassing crimes and offenses related to ethnicity, nationality, alleged race, or religion.
The data represents a troubling increase from the previous year, where just over 12,000 offenses were recorded.
The report also noted a surge in anti-Semitic acts towards the end of 2023, attributed to escalating tensions stemming from Israel’s war on Gaza.
According to the Victimization Survey on Experience and Perception of Security (VRS), nearly 800,000 individuals aged 18 and over living in metropolitan France reported being victims of a “racist” offense in 2021, representing 1.6% of the total adult population.
