VIENNA: A report titled "Muslims in the European Union: Discrimination and Islamophobia" prepared by a monitoring group said that Muslims in Europe face discrimination in education, employment and housing and are often victims of verbal abuse and physical attacks.

"The report makes it clear that Muslims ... frequently suffer different forms of discrimination which reduce their employment opportunities, and affect their educational achievement," Beate Winkler, the director of the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC), said in a statement.

According to the report incidents against Muslims were "under-documented and under-reported". It called on European Union countries to improve their methods for reporting racist crimes.

"Greater efforts need to be made to ensure that all European Muslims enjoy the right to equal treatment and the same quality of life as other Europeans," Winkler said.

The report by the Vienna-based EUMC said European Muslims were "over-represented in low-paying sectors of the economy," living in poor housing conditions, with below-average education leading to low-qualified jobs or unemployment.

"Many European Muslims, particularly young people, face barriers to their social advancement. This could give rise to a feeling of hopelessness and social exclusion," the report concluded.

The EUMC, which is to become the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights in 2007, cited incidents "ranging from verbal abuse to physical attacks and arson" but added that little data was available on them as most EU countries do not report whether incidents were racially motivated.