America Abroad: Muslim backlash in Europe

Muslim migrant girls hold placards reading 'No to Islamophobia'
Muslim migrant girls hold placards reading 'No to Islamophobia' and 'No to racism' outside the French embassy in Athens on August 30, 2016 condemning the decision by some French mayors to ban the Islamic burkini swimsuit on their beaches.
Louisa Gouliamaki | AFP/Getty Images

Millions of Muslims from the Middle East and Africa have moved to the United States and Europe in recent years, facing considerable discrimination.

From the America Abroad series, a look at Muslim immigrant communities in Europe, and the backlash against them. Xenophobic and violent populist movements have been gaining steam there.

It focuses on Greece, where refugee centers have been firebombed, and the UK, where Brexit has emboldened a white supremacist movement.

A change in political winds in Finland has been forcing many Muslim asylum seekers to return to the Middle East where they face violence and persecution.

The hour also looks at the European institutions pushing back against this populist wave and considers the ways European populism connects to the political waves in the U.S.

Public Radio International's America Abroad series is anchored by Madeleine Brand.

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