Crime of religiously motivated hate crimes in England and Wales rose by 25% in the last 12 months to March 2024, mainly due to a sharp rise in anti-Jewish crimes since the conflict between Israel and "Hamas" on October 7, 2023, Reuters reported, citing data from the British Home Office, cited by BTA.
According to the ministry, police-recorded crimes motivated by the religion or perceived faith of the victims increased to 10,484, compared to 8,370 the previous year. Crimes against persons believed to be Jewish have more than doubled — from 1,543 to 3,282. Crimes against Muslims also increased, reaching 3,866 compared to 3,432 a year earlier.
However, the total number of hate crimes fell by 5% to 140,561 on the previous year. As in previous years, over two-thirds of these crimes were racially motivated, the British Home Office said.