Four in 10 French and German people see Muslims living in their country as a threat

Forty-two percent of French people and 40% of Germans questioned by pollster Ifop said they considered the presence of a Muslim community in their country a threat. The findings of the study go beyond linking immigration with security or unemployment, to linking Islam with a threat to identity. Of the sample of people questioned for the survey in December 2010, 68% in France and 75% in Germany said they considered Muslims to be not well integrated in society. Out of these, 61% of French and 67% of Germans blamed this failure on the refusal of Muslims to integrate. France has the largest Muslim population in Europe, estimated at about six million, originating largely from North Africa. It has passed a law banning the wearing of the face-covering Muslim veil in public. Germany received vast numbers of migrant workers, most of them from Muslim Turkey, from the 1960s. German federal authorities estimate its current Muslim population at up to 4.3 million.