Reports and briefings
Reports, briefings, investigations and more on minority and indigenous issues.
Reports and briefings
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24 October 2024
Justice served: The Batwa of Kahuzi-Biega and the failure of fortress conservation
The story of the Batwa of Kahuzi-Biega is an archetypical example of the ‘fortress conservation’ model.
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2 October 2024
The Situation of Minorities in Tajikistan
This report is the first comprehensive survey by Minority Rights Group of the situation facing minorities in Tajikistan, following the…
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29 April 2024
Unveiling Discrimination: Minorities in Türkiye
This report argues that discrimination against minorities in Türkiye is a structural problem grounded on Turkish nationalism.
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6 March 2024
Equality in accessing justice: Removing barriers for Roma in pursuing their rights in discrimination cases
This report provides an overview and insights into discrimination faced by members of Roma communities in Slovenia and Slovakia, and…
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13 November 2023
Language barriers in polio vaccine campaigns in Somalia
In this collaborative report, CLEAR GLOBAL, HISA, JVDC, MCAN and Minority Rights Group International explore the comprehension of polio…
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28 June 2023
Understanding barriers to health care for minorities and indigenous peoples in Egypt, Iraq and Tunisia
Minorities and indigenous peoples are among the most marginalized in terms of access to social and economic rights, and this is especially…
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30 March 2023
The situation of black people with disabilities in Brazil
This report considers the situation of black people with disabilities in Brazil. In particular, the authors focus on the historical…
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2 March 2023
The State of Cultural Citizenship for Egyptian Minorities
This report argues for the need to reframe the concept of citizenship, as expressed by the Egyptian Constitution and state institutions….
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9 February 2023
Conflict, Structural Discrimination & Minorities: Towards a roadmap for inter-agency cooperation
This paper was commissioned under the auspices of the Our Common Agenda, it was developed through multiple interventions and consultations…
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2 February 2023
Reparations at last: Land justice for Kenya’s Ogiek
Since time immemorial, indigenous communities in Kenya have been victims of land rights abuses. With the advent of colonization, these…
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27 January 2023
Combatting discrimination through enhanced access to justice in Croatia and Bulgaria
‘Equality for Roma through Enhanced Legal Access’ (ERELA) is the result of a 2-year collaboration between Minority Rights Group,…
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19 January 2023
No Data IS Data: What existing but untapped disaggregated data tells us about inequalities in vaccination rates in the Global South
Given the importance of data when seeking to better understand health programmes and key aspects of global health such as vaccination, this…
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24 November 2022
Protests, discrimination and the future of minorities in Iran
This briefing examines how discrimination against minorities has contributed to rising tensions and long-standing grievances in Iran. It…
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10 November 2022
Equality and justice on the sidelines: Comparative report on discrimination against Roma and their access to justice in Slovakia and Slovenia
From an early age, Roma in Slovenia and Slovakia face widespread discrimination in various areas of their lives, including housing,…
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25 October 2022
Minority exclusion in Somalia: shortcomings of aid agency feedback mechanisms
Most aid agencies operating in Somalia have established complaints and feedback mechanisms (CFMs) in an effort to address longstanding…
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22 September 2022
Building trust in equality: Enhancing access to justice for Roma in Hungary and Serbia
In Hungary and Serbia, Roma routinely experience discrimination, typically fuelled by negative attitudes and prejudices, in a variety of…
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15 September 2022
Ending slavery in Mauritania: The impact of legal advocacy and strategic litigation from 2010 to 2020
This report provides an assessment of the activities undertaken by Minority Rights Group (MRG), Anti-Slavery International (ASI) and…
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11 August 2022
Health services for Egyptian Border Communities during the Covid-19 pandemic
This briefing reviews the experiences of minorities and indigenous peoples in Egypt during the Covid-19 pandemic, including their living…
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13 July 2022
Minority and Disability Rights in Thailand’s Deep South
Thailand’s Southern Border Provinces (SBPs) are comprised of Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and four districts of Songkhla provinces. The…
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12 July 2022
The application of the 2015 anti-slavery law in Mauritania
Slavery persists to this day in Mauritania, predominantly affecting Haratins, many of whom continue to work as slaves for White Moors or…
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5 May 2022
Fortress Conservation and International Accountability for Human Rights Violations against Batwa in Kahuzi-Biega National Park
the PNKB represents a clear case of how fortress conservation fails both people and the environment.
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5 April 2022
To Purge the Forest by Force: Organized violence against Batwa in Kahuzi-Biega National Park
The Kahuzi-Biega National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a protected area and UNESCO World Heritage site that has received…
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4 April 2022
Diversity Impact on Vaccine Equity in Algeria
Minority Rights Group conducted research on language, ethnicity and Covid-19 vaccine confidence among indigenous Amazigh communities in…
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4 April 2022
Diversity: Impact on Vaccine Equity (DIVE)
In partnership with Bytes for All, Grand Synergy Development Initiative and Verité Research, for this final report, Minority Rights Group…
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10 March 2022
Diversity: Impact on Vaccine Equity (DIVE)
Minority Rights Group International worked in partnership with Grand Synergy Development Initiative (GSDI), Bytes for All (B4A) and Verité…
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4 March 2022
Diversity Impact on Vaccine Equity in Algeria
Minority Rights Group conducted research to monitor social media discourse around Covid-19 vaccination in Algeria, including access,…
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3 February 2022
Access to education and health among minorities and indigenous peoples in Ethiopia
Despite enjoying considerable economic growth in recent years, Ethiopia is still struggling with the impacts of civil war and protracted…
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16 December 2021
Peoples under Threat 2021 – Authoritarianism
In many parts of the world, wide-ranging atrocities and other human rights abuses continue to occur, threatening especially those who are…
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18 November 2021
Baseline study on the situation of minorities and discriminated groups in Tunisia
Ten years after the uprising of 2011, Tunisia still faces several challenges in terms of non-discrimination and respect for the rights of…
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15 October 2021
Discrimination against Roma in Croatia and Bulgaria: A comparative report
Discrimination against Roma manifests itself in various ways in Bulgaria and Croatia. This comparative report summarises and analyses the…
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5 August 2021
Assessment of Batwa and persons with disabilities’ access to education and health services in Uganda
This briefing summarizes the findings of an assessment carried out to study the level of access to education and health care services among…
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6 May 2021
Access to Education and Health among Minority and Indigenous Communities in Kenya
This study seeks to measure disparity in the enjoyment of health and education rights in Kenya, with a focus on minorities and indigenous…
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1 March 2021
Roma in the Republic of Serbia and Hungary: The Challenges of Discrimination – A Comparative Report
This comparative report summarizes and analyzes the findings of two pieces of research which were conducted in the framework of the REILA…
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1 March 2021
Roma in Hungary: The Challenges of Discrimination
Research in recent years has shown that Roma in Hungary suffer substantial disadvantage in all areas of their daily life. The problems…
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1 March 2021
Roma in the Republic of Serbia: The Challenges of Discrimination
In 2002, the Roma population in the Republic of Serbia was granted the status of a national minority, on the basis of which they enjoy the…
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17 December 2020
Violent conservation: WWF’s failure to prevent, respond to and remedy human rights abuses committed on its watch
This briefing provides an alternative executive summary of the Report of the Independent Panel of Experts (the Panel) of the Independent…
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10 September 2020
Inequality and the impact of Covid-19: How discrimination is shaping the experiences of minorities and indigenous peoples during the pandemic
The Covid-19 outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. It had initially spread in Wuhan,…
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26 June 2020
In the name of security – Human rights violations under Iran’s national security laws
The national security imperative has driven the Iranian government to turn on many of its own people, committing grave and widespread human…
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25 June 2020
Peoples under Threat 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic is worsening the impact of existing conflicts and increasing the risk of mass violence, according to new data…
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27 May 2020
Defending our Future: Overcoming the Challenges of Returning the Ogiek Home
On 26 May 2017, cheering broke out in a courtroom in Arusha as the African Court of Human & Peoples Rights read its judgment in the…
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22 January 2020
Mosul after the Battle: Reparations for civilian harm and the future of Ninewa
Mosul, a metropolis of 1.5 million people, served as the capital of the self-proclaimed caliphate of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham…
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27 November 2019
A rights-based framework for minority and indigenous languages in Africa: From endangerment to revitalization
It is estimated that between 6,000 and 7,000 languages are currently spoken worldwide, of which approximately half, if not more, will…
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23 October 2019
The Turkish minority in Western Thrace: The long struggle for rights and recognition
The Turkish minority in Western Thrace has inhabited the region for centuries. However, despite a raft of protection in domestic and…
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16 September 2019
Beyond the veil: Discrimination against women in Iran
Despite some progress in certain areas, such as access to education and health care, the human rights environment for women in Iran…
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3 June 2019
Peoples under Threat 2019
In many parts of the world, wide-ranging atrocities and other human rights abuses continue to threaten populations, especially those…
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8 May 2019
Roma in Ukraine – A time for action: priorities and pathways for an effective integration policy
Roma in Ukraine have a long history of discrimination that, despite some progress in recent years, continues to this day. Now more than…
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27 February 2019
An uncertain future for Syrian refugees in Lebanon: The challenges of life in exile and the barriers to return
The impact of the eight-year long Syrian conflict has been felt by millions of civilians forced into exile from their country. For the…
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25 January 2019
Justice denied, promises broken: The situation of Egypt’s minorities since 2014
Egypt’s religious diversity, encompassing Christian, Jewish and Bahá’í communities as well as a range of Muslim groups such as…
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13 December 2018
Civilian Activists Under Threat in Iraq
The outbreak of large-scale popular protests in Basra and other Iraqi cities from July 2018 has led to a wave of violent repression of…
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23 November 2018
Identity and Citizenship in Tunisia: The Situation of Minorities after the 2011 Revolution
Since the overthrow in January 2011 of the authoritarian President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, widely credited as the beginning of the Arab…
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21 November 2018
Roma in the Republic of Macedonia: Challenges and Inequalities in Housing, Education and Health
This briefing, drawing on the first-hand accounts gathered by Roma mediators working with their communities, provides crucial insights…
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11 July 2018
Landmark ruling on Mauritania’s continued failure to eradicate child slavery
A new briefing by MRG looks into the background and implications of a groundbreaking ruling in an anti-slavery case in Mauritania.Despite…
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13 June 2018
Peoples under Threat 2018
Peoples under Threat identifies those country situations around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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13 March 2018
Rights Denied: Violations against ethnic and religious minorities in Iran
While the repression and human rights violations of the Iranian government are well documented, less attention is paid to the specific…
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15 December 2017
Mainstreaming a Minority Rights Based Approach to Refugee and Migrant Communities in Europe
The combination of the migration crisis, the poor economic climate and the continued threat from terrorism has been blamed for increased…
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14 December 2017
No escape from discrimination: minorities, indigenous peoples and the crisis of displacement
The world is currently going through an unprecedented era of migration, with tens of millions of people moving to new cities, countries…
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8 November 2017
Reparations for the victims of conflict in Iraq: Lessons learned from comparative practice
As Iraq prepares to rebuild and recover from the conflict with ISIS, ensuring accountability for violations committed and reparations for…
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8 August 2017
Victory for Kenya’s Ogiek as African Court sets major precedent for indigenous peoples’ land rights
African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights v the Republic of KenyaIn May 2017, the Ogiek indigenous community of Kenya…
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27 July 2017
Eyes on the Ground: Realizing the potential of civilian-led monitoring in armed conflict
Technological advances have meant that civilians are now enabled to play a greater role than ever before in monitoring and…
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20 July 2017
Peoples under Threat 2017
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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29 June 2017
A narrowing space: Violence and discrimination against India’s religious minorities
Religious minorities have long been the target of a range of different forms of persecution, such as hate crimes, threats,…
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22 June 2017
Ignored and Unequal: Roma Access to the Right to Housing and Education in Turkey
Turkey’s Roma population and similar social groups such as Abdal have long been among the country’s most marginalized communities….
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7 June 2017
Crossroads: The future of Iraq’s minorities after ISIS
Crossroads: The future of Iraq’s minorities after ISIS draws on extensive fieldwork, interviews and desk research to highlight the…
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31 May 2017
Disaggregation by ethnicity: protecting the commitment to Leave No One Behind
This short briefing by Minority Rights Group International and
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22 December 2016
Humanitarian challenges in Iraq’s displacement crisis
There are currently more than four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Iraq. Many remain in a state of profound insecurity, at…
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8 December 2016
Confronting intolerance: Continued violations against religious minorities in Sri Lanka
Though Sri Lanka’s three-decade long armed conflict came to an end in 2009, hopes for a peaceful transition have been marred by ongoing…
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17 November 2016
Under threat: The challenges facing religious minorities in Bangladesh
Since 2013, Bangladesh has experienced a series of violent attacks by extremists. The victims have included – besides atheists, secular…
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25 October 2016
Civilian protection in the battle for Mosul: Critical priorities
Recent precedents from military operations to retake Iraqi cities from ISIS control, including Tikrit, Ramadi, Fallujah and Sinjar,…
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12 July 2016
Peoples under Threat 2016
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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4 July 2016
No Way Home: Iraq’s minorities on the verge of disappearance
No Way Home: Iraq’s minorities on the verge of disappearance seeks to document the situation of Iraq’s ethnic and religious minorities…
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13 April 2016
Iraq’s Displacement Crisis: Security and protection
The report, Iraq’s Displacement Crisis: security and protection, provides an up to date overview of the situation of IDPs (internally…
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13 January 2016
‘Even war discriminates’: Yemen’s minorities, exiled at home
Since the onset of the Saudi-led military campaign in March 2015, the conflict in Yemen has resulted in more than 5,700 documented deaths…
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14 December 2015
Collateral Damage of the Dayton Peace Agreement: Discrimination Against Minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Twenty Years On
The Dayton Peace Agreement, negotiated in November 1995 and formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995, is widely credited for bringing…
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9 December 2015
Central African Republic on the Eve of Elections: From Crisis to Reconciliation
Since the beginning of the current conflict in the Central African Republic (CAR), thousands of civilians have been killed, injured or…
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3 December 2015
Still invisible – the stigmatization of Shi’a and other religious minorities in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia remains one of the most restrictive countries in the world with regard to religious freedom, particularly for Shi’a and…
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30 November 2015
Civilian deaths in the anti-ISIS bombing campaigns 2014-2015
This briefing summarizes the existing information, predominantly from local sources, on civilian deaths in the bombing campaigns…
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4 November 2015
The Lost Women of Iraq: Family-based violence during armed conflict
Against the backdrop of armed conflict and spiralling sectarian violence that have marked Iraq in recent decades, another type of violence…
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29 October 2015
Moving towards a Right to Land: The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights’ Treatment of Land Rights as Human Rights
In many countries, land rights and security of tenure constitute the basis for access to food, livelihoods, housing and development for a…
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4 October 2015
Enforcing Mauritania’s Anti-Slavery Legislation: The Continued Failure of the Justice System to Prevent, Protect and Punish
Despite the passing of an anti-slavery law in 2007, slavery remains widespread in Mauritania, particularly among the country’s large…
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22 September 2015
Minorities, indigenous peoples and the post-2015 framework
Though the fifteen years of the Millennium Development framework have seen some positive progress in areas such as health and education,…
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2 July 2015
Peoples under Threat 2015
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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4 May 2015
Still Far From Freedom: The Struggle of Mauritania’s Haratine Women
Mauritania is consistently ranked as the worst place in the world for slavery, with tens of thousands still trapped in total servitude…
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27 February 2015
Between the millstones: Iraq’s minorities since the fall of Mosul
This report provides critical information on the legal basis for war crimes prosecutions and follows a hearing on religious minorities in…
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16 February 2015
No Place to Turn: Violence against women in the Iraq conflict
The international community is increasingly recognizing that genderbased violence is a constant feature in conflict situations. In military…
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30 January 2015
Looma Ooyaan – No one cries for them: the situation facing Somalia’s minority women
After decades of violence and instability, tentative progress is being made in Somalia to strengthen the country’s governance and…
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10 December 2014
The leaves of one tree: Religious minorities in Lebanon
In the midst of a region in turmoil, where the very future of religious minorities seems to be at stake, Lebanon has always been known for…
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9 December 2014
Searching for Security: The Rising Marginalization of Religious Communities in Pakistan
Though religious communities such as Ahmadis, Christians and Hindus have suffered discrimination in Pakistan for decades, their persecution…
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25 November 2014
Protecting the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples in the Russian Federation: Challenges and Ways Forward
This report provides an overview of the present situation of minority and indigenous peoples’ rights in Russia. It examines the…
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14 October 2014
From Crisis to Catastrophe: The Situation of Minorities in Iraq
The situation of Iraq’s minorities – including Chaldo-Assyrian and Armenian Christians, Turkmen, Yezidis, Kaka’i, Shabak,…
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3 July 2014
Peoples under Threat 2014
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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11 June 2014
‘Everything has shattered’ – rising levels of violence against Shi’a in Pakistan
Pakistan has witnessed a surge in attacks against its Shi’a and Hazara communities, making it one of the world’s most dangerous…
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9 June 2014
Partnership for all? Measuring the impact of Eastern Partnership on minorities
In 2009 the EU launched the Eastern Partnership (EaP) encompassing the six Eastern countries Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova…
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26 March 2014
Still dispossessed – the battle of the Chagos Islanders to return to their homeland
In 2010, the UK government created the world’s largest marine reserve around the Chagos Islands, an archipelago in the Indian Ocean….
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9 December 2013
No Change in Sight: The Situation of Religious Minorities in Post-Mubarak Egypt
In January 2011, after three decades under President Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian people joined together in an uprising – subsequently…
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16 October 2013
Living with Insecurity: Marginalization and Sexual Violence against Women in North and East Sri Lanka
This report provides a detailed profile of the situation of Tamil and Muslim women in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, four years…
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30 September 2013
Realizing the right to health for minorities and indigenous peoples
‘What I think is that well-being is living better, living well. Because … “well-being” means being well in the family, being well…
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24 September 2013
Peoples under Threat 2013
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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11 September 2013
‘Suddenly we have no more power’: Oil drilling on Maya and Garifuna land in Belize
For centuries, Belize’s Toledo district has been home to indigenous Maya people and Garifuna, an Afro-descendant people. They have…
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9 April 2013
Fiji: The challenges and opportunities of diversity
This report provides insight into the underlying causes and consequences of ethnic tensions in Fiji, based on evidence drawn from extensive…
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19 March 2013
Voices from the margins: including the perspectives of minorities and indigenous peoples in the post-2015 development agenda
As we approach the 2015 deadline for attainment of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is becoming ever clearer that minorities…
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28 January 2013
Taking diversity seriously: minorities and political participation in Kenya
By Jill Cottrel-Ghai, Yash Ghai, Korir Sing’Oei and Waikwa WanyoikeThis briefing, developed on the basis of a literature review,…
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4 December 2012
Challenges at the Intersection of Gender and Ethnic Identity in Kenya
Minority and indigenous women in Kenya are discriminated against on multiple levels; they are targeted because of their identification with…
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22 October 2012
Corporate responsibility to respect the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples
Minorities and indigenous peoples around the world continue to face eviction from their lands and other violations of their rights caused…
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19 July 2012
Improving security for minorities in Iraq
Improving Security for Minorities in Iraq, presents new field research showing that ethnic and religious minorities continue to fear for…
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28 June 2012
Peoples under Threat 2012
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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2 April 2012
Country strategy papers: A policy tool to increase effectiveness of Polish development cooperation
This briefing paper gives guidance in developing Country Strategy Papers (CSPs) based on other donors’ good practices. Given recent…
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8 March 2012
Kenya at 50: Unrealized Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
To mark Kenya’s 50th anniversary of self-rule, this report reviews the current status of minority and indigenous groups in Kenya….
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5 December 2011
Land, livelihoods and identities: inter-community conflicts in East Africa
In resource-scarce East Africa, minority groups face major challenges over the control of and access to land and natural resources….
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28 November 2011
Iraq’s Minorities: Participation in Public Life
Taking part in everyday public life – practising religion, accessing jobs and public services, taking part in politics, travelling…
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22 November 2011
Israel’s denial of the Bedouin
Based on a Minority Rights Group International (MRG) field visit to the region in September 2011, this briefing describes the ongoing human…
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6 July 2011
Peoples under Threat 2011
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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15 June 2011
Southern Sudan: The Role of Minority Rights in Building a New Nation
Southern Sudan’s independence referendum united the region’s myriad ethnic groups in a common goal – to separate from the…
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13 May 2011
The Human Rights-based Approach: A More Effective Framework for International Development Policies in New EU Member States
The mainstreaming of human rights in development cooperation is a legal and political obligation for all Member States of the European…
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30 March 2011
Minority groups and litigation: A review of developments in international and regional jurisprudence
This guide provides an overview of developments in international and regional human rights jurisprudence relevant to the protection of…
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23 March 2011
Minority Rights: Solutions to the Cyprus Conflict
Attempts to resolve the ongoing conflict in Cyprus over the past forty years have been marked by one common feature: the systematic failure…
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16 February 2011
Seeking justice and an end to neglect: Iran’s minorities today
Violations of minority rights in Iran take place within a wider, well-documented context of human rights violations, and intolerance of…
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9 February 2011
Facts and figures: Minorities and the MDGs
The 2008 financial and food crises have jeopardized the realization of the MDGs and undermined the progress towards them which has been…
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19 January 2011
No War, No Peace: The Denial of Minority Rights and Justice in Sri Lanka
With the end of the conflict between Sri Lankan government forces and the Liberation Tigers for Tamil Eelam (LTTE or ‘Tamil Tigers’) in…
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22 December 2010
Promoting the rights of minority children and women: a review of UNICEF’s policies and practices
This report is the outcome of an independent review of UNICEF’s global policies and practices towards minorities, commissioned by…
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29 November 2010
EU Financial Assistance to the Western Balkans: A Minority-focused Review of CARDS and IPA
Since the early 1990s, the European Union (EU) has been the largest donor to the countries of the Western Balkans – Albania, Bosnia and…
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23 November 2010
No Redress: Somalia’s Forgotten Minorities
This report documents the neglected situation of Somalia’s minorities. It aims to raise awareness of the continuing severe violations…
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26 August 2010
Landmark ruling provides major victory to Kenya’s indigenous Endorois
The Endorois indigenous community in Kenya has successfully contested their eviction from their ancestral land by the Kenyan government. In…
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22 July 2010
Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers: Failing Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
When they were first introduced more than a decade ago, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) were roundly welcomed. PRSPs were…
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1 July 2010
Peoples under Threat 2010
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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10 June 2010
Still Targeted: Continued Persecution of Iraq’s Minorities
Despite moves towards greater pluralism in Iraq’s 2010 national parliamentary election, the conditions for minority communities of…
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7 May 2010
Uncounted: the hidden lives of Batwa women
Despite being the original inhabitants of the equatorial forests of Africa’s Great Lakes region, Batwa are, in official terms,…
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12 March 2010
Discrimination and political participation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Sejdic and Finci v. Bosnia and Herzegovina A Bosnian Jew and an ethnic Roma have successfully challenged discriminatory provisions within…
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5 January 2010
Six months on: end of the war brings no respite and little hope for Sri Lanka’s minorities
On 19 May 2009 Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse declared to parliament that the country’s 30-year-old war had come to an end with…
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22 December 2009
Breaking the cycle of exclusion: minority rights in Georgia today
This briefing says that ethnic tension could rise in Georgia unless the government, in line with international standards, puts in place…
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24 September 2009
Uncertain Refuge, Dangerous Return: Iraq’s Uprooted Minorities
Since the start of conflict in Iraq in 2003, the country’s minorities have suffered disproportionate levels of targeted violence because…
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25 August 2009
Resolving conflicts using traditional mechanisms in the Karamoja and Teso regions of Uganda
Greater use of traditional community based systems, such as elders’ arbitration councils, could help resolve long standing conflicts…
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11 August 2009
Pakistan: Minorities at Risk in the North-West
The Taliban insurgency in Pakistan’s North-West Frontier Province and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, and the military offensive…
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16 July 2009
Peoples under Threat 2009
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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26 May 2009
Filling the Vacuum: Ensuring Protection and Legal Remedies for Minorities in Kosovo
Since Kosovo’s declaration of independence on 17 February 2008, there has been a vacuum in effective international protection for…
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16 March 2009
Forgotten or Assimilated? Minorities in the Education System of Turkey
Since the Turkish Republic was established in 1923, minorities have been perceived as a threat to the ‘indivisible integrity of the state…
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7 January 2009
Minority Tribes in Botswana: the Politics of Recognition
Botswana is reportedly one of Africa’s ‘most stable countries.’ It has grown from one of the world’s poorest nations into an…
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12 December 2008
The Right to Learn: Batwa Education in the Great Lakes Region of Africa
The Batwa communities of the Great Lakes Region are mainly former hunter-gatherers who have been evicted from their forest homes over the…
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12 December 2008
A double bind: The exclusion of Pastoralist women in the East and Horn of Africa
Pastoralism is one of the predominant livelihoods in eastern Africa and the Horn. But pastoralist societies are increasingly excluded and…
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19 November 2008
Voices that must be heard: minorities and indigenous people combating climate change
From the Batak people of Indonesia to the Karamojong in Africa, those who are least responsible for climate change are amongst the worst…
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24 September 2008
African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights: Ten years on and still no justice
It has been ten years since the African Heads of State signed the Protocol to establish the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights at…
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28 August 2008
Kenya six months on: A new beginning or business as usual?
The Kenyan government has failed to support vital peace-making efforts aimed at healing ethnic divisions in the country following the…
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1 July 2008
Pushing for Change? South-East Europe’s Minorities in the EU Progress Reports
As Southeast European countries move towards EU accession, the European Union’s annual country Progress Reports offer a unique…
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10 April 2008
The Impact of Climate Change on Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
Climate change is attracting ever more attention from the media, academics, politicians and even businesses, as evidence mounts about its…
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4 April 2008
Why a minority rights approach to conflict? The case of Southern Sudan
This briefing is aimed at decision-makers working on conflict management, peace-building, development and human rights in countries…
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11 March 2008
Peoples under Threat 2008
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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13 December 2007
One year on: Counter-terrorism sparks human rights crisis for Sri Lanka’s minorities
One year since the Sri Lankan government promulgated tough anti-terror laws, the country’s human rights situation has hit a new low,…
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11 December 2007
A quest for equality: Minorities in Turkey
Though Türkiye is a land of vast ethnic, linguistic and religious diversity – home not only to Turks, Kurds and Armenians, but also,…
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6 December 2007
Five essential elements for a long-term solution for Kosovo
The violation of minority rights lies at the heart of Kosovo’s problems. A settlement for the region must allow minorities to practise…
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30 October 2007
Minorities in Burma
By Chizom Ekeh and Martin Smith Who are Burma’s minorities? Burma has over 100 ethnic groups, languages and dialects and is said to…
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17 May 2007
Minority Rights: The Key to Conflict Prevention
This report, Minority Rights: The Key to Conflict Prevention, cogently argues that an understanding of minority rights is essential for…
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17 April 2007
China: Minority Exclusion, Marginalization and Rising Tensions
China’s rapid economic transformation has exposed the intrinsic and historical problems of the government’s policies towards ethnic…
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4 April 2007
From Conflict to Autonomy in Nicaragua: Lessons Learnt
This study aims to characterise the political and social processes that led to autonomy and to assess its results, both positive and mixed,…
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4 March 2007
Peoples under Threat 2007
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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11 February 2007
Assimilation, exodus, eradication: Iraq’s minority communities since 2003
Since the US-led coalition forces ended Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party rule in 2003, the civilian population in Iraq has been subject to…
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9 January 2007
Trouble in paradise – tourism and indigenous land rights: Together towards ethical solutions
Find out what you can do to stop tourism from displacing indigenous people.
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24 October 2006
Electoral Systems and the Protection and Participation of Minorities
The protection of minorities and their inclusion in the political process is essential to both avoiding and resolving conflicts. But…
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15 September 2006
Minority Rights, Early Warning and Conflict Prevention: Lessons from Darfur
Learning from the Darfur conflict and providing insights into how better incorporation of minority rights can strengthen the work of…
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8 September 2006
Substantive Equality, Positive Action and Roma Rights in the European Union
This briefing puts forward the argument that the European Union (EU) should take legal steps to ensure the social inclusion of Roma across…
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8 September 2006
EU-funded Roma programmes: Lessons from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic
This report examines three Roma-oriented projects in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia funded by the European Union’s Phare…
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19 August 2006
Minority Rights and Conflict Prevention: Case Study of Conflicts in Indian Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Nagaland
This study explores India’s policies and practice towards minorities, and three violent ethnic conflicts: the Sikh struggle for an…
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8 August 2006
Disaggregated Data Collection: A Precondition for Effective Protection of Minority Rights in South East Europe
Ask for statistical information on the situation of minorities in the countries of Southeast Europe, and the reply from states,…
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6 July 2006
Minority Rights in Kosovo under International Rule
After seven years of international administration – the longest and most expensive since the creation of the UN – Kosovo remains one of…
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2 June 2006
Bosnia and Herzegovina: National Minorities and the Right to Education
Assessing to what extent the ERS education Action Plan reflects the educational needs of Roma and other minorities in Bosnia and…
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6 May 2006
Minority Access to Employment in Montenegro
This study aims to show whether discrimination in accessing job opportunities and employment of persons belonging to national minorities…
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15 January 2006
Preventing Genocide and Mass Killing: The Challenge for the United Nations
If the recommendations from the United Nations (UN) summit 2005 Outcome Document are acted upon, significant positive benefits in the…
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25 December 2005
Policies for Improvement of the Employment of Roma in Macedonia
This study assesses the key factors causing unemployment of Roma in Macedonia and the national and international programmes set up to bring…
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22 December 2005
Peoples under Threat 2006
The Peoples under Threat index identifies those countries around the world where communities face the greatest risk of genocide, mass…
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20 December 2005
The Constitution of Iraq: Religious and Ethnic Relations
This study looks into the Constitution of Iraq, endorsed by 78 per cent of voters in 2005. The study examines the constitutional process…
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15 December 2005
Good Governance and Indigenous Peoples in Asia
Governance is at the heart of most development and poverty reduction efforts today, including those aimed at realizing the Millennium…
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15 October 2005
Croatia: Challenges for Sustainable Return of Ethnic Serb Refugees
This study focuses on two critical factors inhibiting sustainable return of Serb refugees to Croatia – access to housing and unemployment…
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1 September 2005
Roma Poverty and the Roma National Strategies: The Cases of Albania, Greece and Serbia
This study examines the impact of the Roma national strategies aimed at reducing Roma poverty in South-East Europe.
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3 May 2005
Aceh: Then and now
Aceh hit the international headlines at the end of December 2004, due to a huge earthquake and tsunami that killed thousands, injured many…
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13 April 2005
Kenya: Minorities, Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Diversity
Minorities and indigenous peoples in Kenya feel excluded from the economic and political life of the state. They are poorer than the rest…
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7 April 2005
Traditional Customary Laws and Indigenous Peoples in Asia
For years, traditional laws – or customary laws – in Asia have been eroded. This report argues that remaining customary laws should be…
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29 November 2004
Pastoralism on the Margin
Pastoralism is a culture, an ancient mode of livestock production and a way of life, which makes extensive use of grazing in the lowlands…
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5 August 2004
Gender, Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
While it is generally acknowledged that women suffer discrimination, women who are also members of minority or indigenous communities are…
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6 July 2004
Erasing the Board: Report of the international research mission into crimes under international law committed against the Bambuti Pygmies in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo
War crimes and crimes against humanity, including persecution, murder, forcible population transfer, torture, rape and extermination, have…
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1 June 2004
Submission to the UN High-Level Panel On Threats, Challenges and Change – Conflict prevention and the protection of minorities
The International Day of Reflection on the Genocide in Rwanda, 7 April 2004 marked 10 years since the international community failed to…
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12 May 2004
The Ogoni of Nigeria: Oil and Exploitation
Since oil was discovered in Ogoni in 1958, the Ogoni people have waged an uneven struggle with successive governments that are allied with…
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4 May 2004
Unheard Indigenous Voices: The Kihals in Pakistan
A case study of Kihals – a riverine indigenous group living in the upper Indus region – illustrating the process of the…
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7 April 2004
Genocide and Minorities: Preventing the Preventable
This briefing outlines how to enhance the UN’s capacity to address the interconnected issues of the protection of minorities and the…
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7 April 2004
Recognition of Minorities in Europe: Protecting Rights and Dignity
The comprehensive review of the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) by its Advisory…
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10 November 2003
Twa Women, Twa Rights in the Great Lakes Region of Africa
The Twa, as an indigenous people in the Great Lakes region of Africa, are shunned by many other ethnic groups. If Twa communities as a…
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7 November 2003
Afghanistan: The search for peace
This paper is an update to the report Afghanistan: Minorities, Conflict and the Search for Peace, published by Minority Rights Group…
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29 September 2003
Minorities in Croatia
The Republic of Croatia achieved independence in 1995 after a five-year bloody war with the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. During…
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15 September 2003
Gender and Minority Issues in Albania
The fall of communism and the transition to a free-market system has had a significant impact on gender relations and the position of women…
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16 August 2003
Economic Exclusion and Discrimination: The Experiences of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
This issues paper aims to evaluate the link between economic exclusion and discrimination against ethnic, religious and linguistic…
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1 July 2003
Public Participation and Minorities
Public participation is a key issue regarding minority and indigenous peoples’ rights. Minorities and indigenous peoples recognize…
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1 July 2003
Migration in the Caribbean: Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Beyond
This Report aims to cast light on the conditions experienced by often invisible minority migrant workers in the Caribbean, looking at…
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8 June 2003
Development, Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: A Case Study and Evaluation of Good Practice
The objective of this issues paper is to document good practice of development agencies in relation to minorities and indigenous peoples,…
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22 May 2003
Intellectual and Cultural Property Rights of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Asia
Indigenous and tribal peoples worldwide are faced with the appropriation of their collective heritage developed through the ages. Their…
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16 May 2003
Afro-descendants, discrimination and economic exclusion in Latin America
This macro study addresses the economic exclusion of people of African descent (Afro-descendants) in Latin America. It aims to examine how…
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7 May 2003
Minority and Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in the Millennium Development Goals
The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can be met more effectively by including minorities and indigenouspeoples. Paying special attention…
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7 May 2003
Recognizing Minorities in Africa
This briefing examines the recognition of minority rights in Africa.
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1 April 2003
The status of constituent peoples and minorities in Bosnia and Herzegovina
In October 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement put an end to the four and a half years of war in the former Yugoslavia, and, in particular, in…
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7 March 2003
Kenya’s Castaways: The Ogiek and National Development Processes
This study focuses on the displacement of the Ogiek people from their land, their underdevelopment and the threat to their culture. It also…
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27 February 2003
Batwa land rights in Rwanda
The Batwa forest people of Rwanda (also known as Pygmies) are recognized as having been the first inhabitants of the land. Traditionally…
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12 February 2003
Building Democracy in Iraq
For decades, the people of Iraq have lived with the very opposite to democracy. Gross violations of human rights have been targeted at…
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11 February 2003
Indigenous Peoples and Poverty: The Cases of Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua
This paper addresses some of the most pressing issues for indigenous peoples in Latin America. It looks at the poverty situation of…
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10 February 2003
The Right to Development: Obligations of States and the Rights of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
The United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Right to Development in 1986. The Declaration recognizes that development is an…
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8 January 2003
Roma in Serbia: Introducing Romany Language and Culture into Primary Schools
Roma communities throughout Europe suffer systematic racial discrimination. Their language and culture has been marginalized, with…
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1 January 2003
Aceh
Aceh is located on the northern tip of Sumatra, bordered on the north by the Malacca Strait and on the south by the Indian Ocean. About 4…
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20 December 2002
Minorities in Independent Namibia
Namibia is one of the youngest African states, having gained its independence in 1990 from South Africa. Since then, the South West African…
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8 December 2002
Macedonia: micro-credit, poverty and returning ethnic minorities
The Republic of Macedonia has a population of just over 2 million people, with a land area of 26,000 km2 in the heart of the Balkans,…
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30 November 2002
Minorities, minority rights and development
Minorities, minority rights and development: an issues paper is part of a 3-4 year programme of work which MRG is beginning with partners…
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14 November 2002
Development Conflict: The Philippine Experience
Development is widely understood and perceived as something that brings about changes for the better. But what can we make of development…
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10 October 2002
Religious Minorities in Pakistan
Recent massacres of religious minorities in Pakistan have focused new attention on the predicament of minorities in a country that is…
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3 September 2002
Muslims in Britain
The situation of Muslims in Britain is one of the most pressing issues facing British society today. A rise in the number of attacks on…
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1 September 2002
The Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: A Policy Analysis
In the 1990s, major wars erupted in the former Yugoslavia and in the Caucasus, while violence continued in the Basque Country, Corsica and…
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1 September 2002
FCNM: From Analysis to Action – Protecting minorities in Europe
In the last decade, Europe has been beset by major inter-ethnic wars in the Balkans and in the Caucasus, separatist organizations have…
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17 July 2002
The South Caucasus: Nationalism, Conflict and Minorities
It is ten years since the former Soviet Union Republics of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia became independent states of the South Caucasus….
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17 July 2002
Burma (Myanmar): The Time for Change
This timely report gives an overview of the major minority ethnic groups and their situation and prospects within Burma today. Major human…
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7 May 2002
The International Labour Organization: A Handbook for Minorities and Indigenous Peoples
An insider’s view of how the International Labour Organisation works. It explains how the ILO can be used by non-governmental…
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1 March 2002
Minorities and Conflict Prevention: The Case for a Special Representative
The body of international law that can be applied to minorities reflects a welcome development in the past decade. Evidence of the…
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3 December 2001
Uganda: The Marginalization of Minorities
Uganda is the home for a large number of diverse ethnic and linguistic groups. Historically this diversity has been used by those in power…
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1 December 2001
Voices From Somalia
This book is part of the ‘Voices’ Series, in which you can also find: Voices from Kurdistan Voices from Eritrea ‘These…
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6 November 2001
Economic Development, Democracy and Ethnic Conflict in the Fiji Islands
This study discusses a complex situation whereby a numerically dominant indigenous community asserts that it is vulnerable and demands a…
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1 November 2001
Afghanistan: Minorities, conflict and the search for peace
The US-led air strikes on Afghanistan that began on 7 October 2001 are only the latest episode in a conflict that has lasted 20 years. This…
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1 November 2001
Religious Minorities and China
The treatment of religious minorities in China regularly makes headlines in the West. In recent years, China’s treatment of the Falungong…
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1 August 2001
Minority and Indigenous Rights in the International Development Goals
The impact of discrimination against minorities and indigenous peoples must be factored into strategies for reaching the International…
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1 August 2001
Indonesia: Regional Conflicts and State Terror
Indonesia is a state torn by vicious and prolonged conflicts which, over recent years, have claimed tens of thousands of lives and left…
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1 May 2001
Strengthening UN Action Against Racial Discrimination
United Nations (UN) action against racial discrimination centres on the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial…
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10 January 2001
The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination: A Guide for NGOs
This manual is intended to act as a guide for non-governmental organizations (NGOs). It explains what the International Convention on the…
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30 November 2000
Minority rights in development aid policies
Over the past two years MRG has begun to examine the relationship between minority rights and development. Clear links have emerged between…
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16 November 2000
Combating Racial Discrimination: The UN and its Member States
The World Conference against Racism is due to be held in 2001. This report offers a timely overview of how far various governments have…
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11 November 2000
Burundi: Prospects for Peace
Burundi has experienced conflict throughout most of its history since independence in 1962. The violence has generally been interpreted as…
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8 July 2000
The Afro-Paraguayan Community of Cambacua
Cambacuá is an Afro-Paraguayan community of 300 families (c. 2,000 individuals) located some 15 km to the east of the Paraguayan capital…
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1 June 2000
The Batwa Pygmies of the Great Lakes Region
The conflicts in the Great Lakes sub-region of Africa, in particular the terrible genocide in Rwanda in 1994, have been reported on at…
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3 April 2000
Ethiopia: A New Start?
Despite having been equated with the ancient Abyssinian cultures of Amhara and Tigray for centuries, there are at least 80 different ethnic…
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1 February 2000
Minority Rights in Yugoslavia
This report demonstrates that numerous minorities are currently at risk and several regions could see ethnic tensions rising to produce yet…
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1 December 1999
Afro-Brazilians: Time for recognition
How is it that Afro-Brazilians have shaped so much of Brazilian culture yet remain politically and economically disenfranchised? This is…
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7 October 1999
MAP: Mentoring Advice Pack
Mentoring aims to ensure that learning can be a mechanism for change. The objectives of this pack are: to give an overall understanding of…
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1 June 1999
Forests and Indigenous Peoples of Asia
For indigenous peoples in Asia, forests have traditionally represented their lands and their livelihoods. Yet in recent years the region…
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1 February 1999
Muslim Women in India
Opportunities for Muslim women in India to raise their concerns over access to education rights and work opportunities or to raise issues…
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14 January 1999
The Adivasis of India
The Adivasis are indigenous peoples and are believed to be the first inhabitants of India. Adivasis have distinct languages, religions and…
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1 July 1998
The Palestinians
In 1918 Christian and Muslim Arabs formed over 90 per cent of the population of Palestine. Fifty years later, those left were a powerless…
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1 March 1998
The Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities: Analysis and Observations on the Monitoring Mechanism
On 1 February 1998 the Council of Europe’s Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities1 entered into force. This is an…
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1 January 1998
Minorities in Southeast Europe: Inclusion and Exclusion
Ethnic conflict in South-East Europe has led to recent wars in this region and the associated tragedies of ‘ethnic cleansing’ and mass…
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1 December 1997
Cyprus: In Search of Peace
Since 1974, Cyprus has been divided both geographically and politically. With the Turkish occupation of the northern third of the island…
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28 November 1997
Access to Land and Resource Management in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa
In the Horn of Africa, where most people depend on crop cultivation and raising livestock for their livelihood, land is not considered as…
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1 November 1997
War: The Impact on Minority and Indigenous Children
While children who are members of minority and indigenous communities suffer discrimination at the hands of the majority community, in…
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18 July 1997
Adult education for all
The term ‘life-long learning’ is often used to describe the current approach to education, an approach that involves people…
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1 July 1997
Eritrea: Towards Unity in Diversity
Emerging from a devastating 30-year war, the new Eritrean government’s efforts to reconstruct its multi-ethnic society and transform its…
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6 April 1997
Central Asia: Conflict or Stability and Development?
The states of Central Asia – Kazakstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan – contain a variety of ethnic groups. With…
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1 March 1997
Refugees in Europe: The Hostile New Agenda
The refugee question has become one of the major international political issues of the twentieth century. Although refugees represent only…
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1 January 1997
World Directory of Minorities
This publication is the first version of the World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples, published in 1997. The full Directory is…
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1 December 1996
The Kurds
With a population of 26 million, the Kurds are the Middle East’s largest ethnic community without a state of its own. The persecution and…
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14 June 1996
Afro-Central Americans: Rediscovering the African heritage
Central Americans of African ancestry have historically been an oppressed and neglected minority. Almost all descended from slaves, and…
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1 January 1996
The Copts of Egypt
This report, which has been written by Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Director of the Ibn Khaldoun Center for Development Studies in Cairo, carefully…
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1 October 1995
Roma/Gypsies: A European Minority
The Roma/Gypsy community has been persecuted in Europe throughout history, whether through banishment, Roma/Gypsy hunts or the Roma/Gypsy…
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1 August 1995
Sudan: Conflict and Minorities
The civil war in Sudan is often portrayed as a battle between the North and the South of the country, between Islam and Christianity. This…
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1 July 1995
Voices From Uganda
In African Voices children as well as adults, speak directly and often with devastating clarity of their former homes, the horrors of civil…
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8 June 1995
Minorities in Cambodia
Twenty years on from the start of Pol Pot’s regime Cambodia has a democratically elected government that is recognized the world over….
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1 June 1995
No Longer Invisible: Afro-Latin Americans Today
The distinct but extraordinarily diverse ethnic and cultural identities of Afro-Latin Americans have received little official recognition….
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1 January 1995
New Approaches to Minority Protection
Since the creation of the United Nations in 1945, over 100 major conflicts around the world have left some 20 million dead. Poverty,…
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1 January 1995
Cutting the Rose – Female genital mutilation: the practice and its prevention
There is growing international interest in Female Genital Mutilation. This is partly due to the exposure of the subject by human rights…
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14 December 1994
The North Caucasus: Minorities at a Crossroads
The North Caucasus region stretches along the high peaks of the Caucasian mountains from the shores of the Black Sea in the north west to…
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1 September 1994
The Maya of Guatemala
The survival of 21 different Maya speaking peoples in Guatemala is a living testimony to their powers of resistance. In recent years, the…
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1 July 1994
Land Rights and Minorities
The process of territorial seizure and loss began many centuries ago and continues today. Foreign occupation, colonialism, nationalism,…
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1 May 1994
Education Rights and Minorities
Many states see the primary objective of their educational systems as the promotion of national unity and/or economic development. Minority…
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1 January 1994
Balkans: Minorities and states in conflict
This highly acclaimed book describes the situations for the minorities of former-Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Greece and Albania from a historical…
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1 January 1994
Polar Peoples: Self-determination and development
The northern regions of the globe were populated by indigenous peoples long before explorers, gold-diggers, bureaucrats and others…
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1 January 1993
The Lumad and Moro of Mindanao
There are two main indigenous groups in the south of the Philippines: the Lumad and the Moro. Together, the Lumad, who have retained their…
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1 January 1993
Preventing the Spread of War in the Balkans
Report on the Action Seminar on Human Rights and Democracy in Kosovo/a | Brussels, 3-5 February 1993 The main objective of this seminar was…
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23 November 1992
The Chinese of South-East Asia
Co-existence or control?Many Chinese have worked and lived in the countries of South-East Asia for generations, and are part of the much…
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30 September 1992
The Native Peoples of the Russian Far North
‘Northern minorities’ is an official term for 26 indigenous peoples who live in a vast northern and Arctic territory (58 per…
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1 June 1992
Roma: Europe’s Gypsies
There are almost six million Roma in Europe today, yet they remain a rejected and harassed minority in almost every country in Eastern and…
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1 April 1992
Female Genital Mutilation: Proposals for Change
Medically unnecessary and extremely painful operations are routinely carried out on babies and young girls. In their most severe forms they…
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1 April 1992
Migrant Workers in the Gulf
The oil price explosion of the early 1970s triggered a massive wave of labour migration into the oil-rich states of the Gulf. The migrants…
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17 February 1992
Afghanistan: A nation of minorities
Afghanistan, on the crossroads of Asia and the Middle East, today has reached a crossroads in its history. For over a decade Afghanistan…
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31 December 1991
The Adivasis of Bangladesh
Ownership and access to land is an issue of immense importance to tribal and indigenous peoples everywhere. Some indigenous land rights are…
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31 December 1991
Armenia and Karabagh: the struggle for unity
Despite a history of persecution, oppression and dispersion, the Armenian people continue to display a determination for survival and a…
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1 September 1991
The Baha’is of Iran
The Baha’i Faith is one of the world’s newest religions. Founded in the mid-19th Century, its early followers faced persecution…
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30 June 1991
Minority Rights in Europe: Policies and Practices in CSCE Participating States
Report on the Leningrad Minority Rights Conference, USSR, held from 2 to 4 June 1991 by Minority Rights Group and the Leningrad Association…
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1 June 1991
Minorities and Human Rights Law
Following the pioneering UN Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, there have been many attempts to formulate international legal standards,…
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1 April 1991
Voices From Eritrea
This book is part of the ‘Voices’ Series, in which you can also find: ‘These stories will improve the understanding of…
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1 April 1991
Voices From Kurdistan
This book is part of the ‘Voices’ Series, in which you can also find:
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19 January 1991
The Pacific: Nuclear Testing and Minorities
The Pacific Ocean covers a third of the earth’s surface and is home to eight million people. Today it is an increasingly poisoned…
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1 January 1991
The Deported Peoples – Crimean Tatars, Volga Germans, Merkhetian Turks, Koreans, Greeks, Kurds
As the Soviet Union in the Gorbachev era attempts to come to grips with its past, one of the darkest pages of the country’s history…
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1 January 1991
The Peoples of the USSR
This publication is currently unavailable. If you own a copy, please let us know.
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1 December 1990
Uganda
In its brief history since its Independence in 1962, the diverse peoples of Uganda have endured massive human rights abuses, firstly under…
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30 April 1990
Minority Rights in Europe: Policies and Practice in Southeast Europe
Report on the Conference in the Folketinget, Denmark, 30 March – 1 April 1990, by Minority Rights Group and the Danish Helsinki…
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1 April 1990
Romania’s Ethnic Hungarians
In December 1989, László Tokes, an ethnic Hungarian non-Conformist pastor in the Romanian city of Timişoara, defied the dread Securitate…
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1 January 1990
The Beduin of the Negev
‘Places of bitterness’ was the phrase used by one researcher describing the ‘government settlements’ where the…
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1 September 1988
The Saami of Lapland
The Saami, or Lapps, are the Native people of the area known as Lapland in northernmost Europe. Due to the national borders forced upon…
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1 September 1988
Chad
Since its Independence in 1960 Chad has been torn apart by internal rebellion and civil war. A series of regimes have imposed various forms…
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1 August 1988
The Miskito Indians of Nicaragua
Nicaragua is a small country with a low population density in all provinces. The majority of the some three million citizens of the Central…
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1 July 1988
Aboriginal Australians
The indigenous peoples of Australia once inhabited the whole continent. For over 40,000 years their rich and varied culture revolved around…
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1 April 1988
Women in Sub-Saharan Africa
Women constitute half the world’s population, perform nearly two-thirds of its work hours, receive one-tenth of the world’s…
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1 November 1987
The Jews of Africa and Asia: Contemporary Anti-Semitism and other pressures
Jews have lived in the Muslim countries of the Near and Middle East and North Africa for millenia. Before 1948 and the establishment of the…
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1 July 1987
The Amerindians of South America
For over 20,000 years a wealth of many cultures flourished in South America, both in the high Andean mountains and the lowland jungles and…
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1 April 1987
Burundi since the genocide
In 1972 Burundi suffered one of the most shocking, but least-known genocides of this century. For generations, the Tutsi people had ruled…
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1 February 1987
The Armenians
During the course of the First World War considerably over a million Armenians were slaughtered in one of the most horrific but least known…
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1 November 1986
Co-existence in some plural European societies
The sectarian violence in Northern Ireland has been a constant factor in British and Irish politics for several decades. The divide between…
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9 April 1986
Lebanon: A Conflict of Minorities
Through its short existence as an independent state, Lebanon has been divided by religious, political and ethnic loyalties; a division…
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1 November 1985
Children: Rights and Responsibilities
Children: Rights and Responsibilities, the Minority Rights Group’s report 69, questions many of the underlying policies and practices…
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1 February 1985
Diego Garcia: A Contrast to the Falklands
For over two centuries, the Ilois people had inhabited the beautiful islands of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. They lived a…
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1 November 1984
The new position of East Africa’s Asians: Problems of a displaced minority
While an extended discussion on the issue of minority rights is impossible in a report that deals with one specific casehistory, it is not…
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1 April 1984
Central America’s Indians
In Latin America today we find one of the largest remnants of colonialism in the world. The concept “Indian” itself is, of course, a…
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1 February 1984
Cyprus
When with his rough humour Nikita Khrushchev remarked, in the presence of the British and of a sulkily silent Gromyko, that Foreign…
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1 January 1984
The Sahrawis of Western Sahara
The Sahrawi people is fighting for its survival, working to reverse the illegal sale of its territory, in 1975, by the previous colonial…
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2 August 1983
The Tibetans: Two Perspectives on Tibetan-Chinese Relations
The minority peoples of China divide into 54 nationalities and altogether constitute just 6 per cent of the population. In most other…
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1 May 1983
Arab Women
Arab women make up nearly half of the Arab world’s population of some 135 million. Among all the world’s Muslim women, they…
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1 January 1983
Puerto Ricans in the U.S.
Puerto Ricans are a people divided between two nations – neither of which truly belongs to them.
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1 July 1982
The Biharis in Bangladesh
The predicament of the Bihari community in Bangladesh contains some of the ingredients of classical tragedy. Although there is still time…
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1 November 1981
Female circumcision, excision and infibulation
In Africa today, women’s voices are being raised for the first time against genital mutilations still practised on babies, little…
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1 January 1981
Inequalities in Zimbabwe
The present report attempts to anatomize the social and economic predicament of Africans in Zimbabwe, in the context of an exceptionally…
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1 November 1980
India, the Nagas and the north-east
What is India? Who is an Indian? If for the present the answers seem to be self-evident they were by no means that for the half century…
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1 June 1980
The original Americans: US Indians
‘The Trail of Broken Treaties’ was the name given to a major protest by US Indians. It reflected their anger at their continued…
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1 February 1980
The Refugee Dilemma
The loneliness of Exile, the difficulties of adjusting to a new life, the wrench of parting, the fear for those left behind – these…
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1 July 1979
The Tamils of Sri Lanka
The outbreak of communal violence in 1977 between the Sinhalese majority and the Tamil minority of Sri- Lanka (formerly Ceylon) attracted…
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15 May 1979
The position of Blacks in Brazilian and Cuban society
The report titled ‘The position of Blacks in Brazilian and Cuban society’ was the 7th report published by Minority Rights…
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1 January 1979
Nomads of the Sahel
In 1973 an international disaster was declared in the Sahelian countries of West Africa (Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Upper Volta, Niger and…
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1 December 1978
The Social Psychology of Minorities
Why do some groups feel superior to others? Why is it that all too often the ‘inferior’ group accepts the evaluation of their…
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1 April 1978
Constitutional Law and Minorities
After this catalogue of constitutional styles tentative generalisations are possible. Distinctive geo-political, attitudinal and…
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1 April 1978
The Namibians of South-West Africa
Namibia is a large country, well-endowed with commercially exploitable resources, with an African population who have been severely…
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1 June 1976
Jehovah’s Witnesses in Central Africa
Jehovah’s Witnesses – the members of an American-based millenarian religious sect known as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract…
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30 November 1975
The Untouchables of India
The disabilities suffered by India’s ‘Untouchables’ have rested on a curious mixture of ritualistic and near-ethnic…
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1 August 1974
Canada’s Indians
After a century of spiritual and physical isolation, during which time they were commonly considered a dying race, the Canadian Indians…
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1 July 1973
The Crimean Tatars, Volga Germans and Meskhetians: Soviet treatment of some national minorities
This edition continues the account of the recent history and present situation of three national minorities in the Soviet Union: the…
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16 June 1972
Selective Genocide in Burundi
This report provides an account of the circumstances and events leading to the 1972 mass killings of Hutus by the Tutsi-dominated army.
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1 June 1972
The Chinese in Indonesia, the Philippines and Malaysia
In the first edition of this Report, an appeal was made for the governments of the three countries to welcome at least the local[1]boom…
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1 July 1971
Eritrea and the Southern Sudan: Aspects of some wider African problems
Across Africa from the Red Sea coast of Ethiopia’s Eritrea Province to the west coast of Mauritania there runs a human fissure. In a…
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1 April 1971
The Asian minorities of East and Central Africa (up to 1971)
One of the most striking problems following in the wake of decolonization in East and Central Africa has been the situation and fate of its…
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31 January 1971
The Two Irelands: The problem of the double minority
Although they live side by side, the people of Ireland have been tragically divided. From the impoverished ghettos of the bleak housing…
