France’s attack on CCIE part of ongoing anti-Muslim repression

_London - _CAGE International stands in solidarity with Collective Against Islamophobia in Europe (CCIE), a Belgian based anti-Islamophobia, human rights organisation summoned for a hearing this week in France. 

CCIE leaders saw their homes being raided in May, two days after a march against Islamophobia organised in France following the murder of Muslim worshipper Aboubakar Cissé at a mosque by a 21-year-old French suspect.  

Together with a European partner organisation in France, CCIE leaders received a summons for a hearing scheduled for, today, 3 September 2025. 

The CCIE questioned the timing of the hearing given the government’s intention to soon relaunch a proposed law targeting so-called ‘Islamic entryism’. 

CAGE International’s Head of Public Advocacy, Anas Mustapha, said:

“In 2022, CAGE International produced a report on France’s ‘Systematic Obstruction’ policy targeting Muslims. Prominent Muslim advocacy organisations were dissolved by order of the government. Hundreds of establishments, including mosques and Muslim schools were shut down. To implement the policy, cells were established across the country, creating a full-blown harassment apparatus.”

“The attack on the CCIE is part of a systematic campaign against Muslim organisations and campaigners in France. It is aimed at silencing an organisation at the forefront of defending human rights and calling out racism and Islamophobia. We stand in unequivocal solidarity with the CCIE.”