A/72/287 the news coverage, respectively. Research also found that an attack is more likely to be considered an act of terrorism when carried out by a Muslim. 18 By contrast, threats posed by right-wing violence are often underestimated and not considered to be terrorism. 19 Racist and xenophobic violence and hate crimes 22. In the context of the heightened fear of terrorism, racist and xenophobic speech is increasingly translated into hate crimes and violence towards certain groups. The Special Rapporteur is especially concerned about hate crimes targeting migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Harassment and violent attacks against these groups were reported in several European countries. Where the perpetrators could be identified, they were most often found to be vigilante groups or individuals with ties to right-wing extremist groups. 20 Attacks in one Western European country included vandalism and arson attacks against refugee reception facilities. As compared with 2014, such xenophobic attacks increased drastically in 2015 and 2016. 21 23. In some countries, an increase in violence towards Muslims can be observed in the aftermath of terrorist attacks. In one South American country, a drastic increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes was reported following widely televised terrorist attacks that occurred in 2015. 22 Terrorist attacks also affected the security of Muslim communities across Europe. In the aftermath of a 2015 attack, mosques in several European Union member States began to receive police protection. The national human rights institution in one country recorded 429 violent acts and threats motivated by Islamophobia in 2015, a 223 per cent increase from the prev ious year. Such incidents have reportedly become more violent and involved grena des, live ammunition and arson. 23 A recent report examining the intersectional discrimination affecting Muslim women found that, in many countries, the majority of Islamophobic hate crimes target Muslim women, especially those wearing headscarves. 24 24. The Special Rapporteur also expresses concern that some Governments use the fight against terrorism as justification for the continuous repression of ethnic minorities. In response to a series of terrorist attacks, the Government of one East African country drastically increased the policing of ethnic and Muslim communities. 25 In 2014, over 6,000 police officers carried out home raids and arbitrarily arrested and detained almost 4,000 people in one particular neighbourhood. The majority of those affected were arrested on suspicion of terrorist links and belonged to the country’s ethnic minority. 26 It was also alleged that, instead of being brought to court, many terrorist suspects wer e forcibly disappeared or killed extrajudicially. 27 In 2016, the Government of one Asian __________________ 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 17-13397 Erin M. Kearns, Allison Betus and Anthony Lemieux, “Why do some terrorist attacks receive more media attention than others?”, 5 March 2017. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNES CO), Terrorism and the Media: A Handbook for Journalists (Paris, 2017), p. 22. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Fundamental Rights Report 2017 (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2017), p. 79. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, Current Migration Situation in the EU: Hate Crime (Luxembourg, Publications Office of the European Union, 2016), p. 4. See https://perma.cc/EU7R-M9B7 (in Portuguese). See https://perma.cc/9JAT-6V7A. European Network Against Racism, “Forgotten women: the impact of Islamophobia on Muslim women”, (Brussels, 2016), p. 26. See https://perma.cc/4X8V-XL2W. See https://perma.cc/P72G-4AJ7. Human Rights Watch, World Report 2015: Events of 2014 (New York, 2015), p. 9. 7/23