World conference against racism - UNREPORTED News on the United Nations System at Work - Brief Article

UN Chronicle, June-August, 2001

The World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance will be held in Durban, South Africa, from 31 August to 7 September 2001. In this regard, UNreported focuses on a number of matters to be discussed at the World Conference: racial discrimination involving women, minorities and other vulnerable groups, particularly indigenous peoples. Many of the facts are taken from reports by independent experts, called special rapporteurs, who are appointed by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights-the main policy-making body concerned with human rights issues.

Gender and Racial Discrimination

The Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, Maurice Glegle-Ahanhanzo, studied the situation of minority women in the labour market in Brazil in 1995. He concluded that "black women receive the lowest salaries (four times lower than those of a white man), are employed in unhealthy locations, work a triple day and face threefold discrimination".

The Special Rapporteur on violence against women, Radhika Coomaraswarmy, states that the exploitation of migrants by traffickers "places women in situations in which they are unprotected by law. Overt forms of violence, including but not limited to rape, torture, arbitrary execution, deprivation of liberty, forced labour and forced marriage, are perpetrated against women who seek to exercise their freedom of movement."

Migration and Discrimination

Migration has become a sign of the times. In 1997, the International Labour Organization estimated that the number of migrant workers was as follows: Africa, 20 million; North America, 17 million; Latin America and the Caribbean, 12 million; the Arab States, 9 million; and Europe, 30 million. Recent estimates by the International Monetary Fund calculate that in 1997, migrant workers' earnings sent back to home countries accounted for $77 billion, second only to world petroleum exports in terms of international trade monetary flows. Migrants are a particularly vulnerable group and they see their rights routinely violated. This is especially true of illegal migrants, according to the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, Gabriela Rodriguez Pizarro, who recently reported that between 300,000 and 600,000 are smuggled into the European Union and certain central European countries. The problem is also widespread in Africa and Latin America.

Racism and Trafficking in Persons

The trafficking in persons has become the "new slave trade" of our age. According to UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson, trafficking is "inherently discriminatory", fuelled by racist ideology. It is estimated that some 50,000 women and children are trafficked annually to the United States alone. Increasing economic hardship, particularly in developing and transitional countries, onerous obstacles to legal migration and serious armed conflict have coincided with the rise in the number of trafficking cases, as well as a spreading of the problem to areas which were previously less affected.

Racism and Indigenous Peoples

Indigenous peoples have been historically the greatest victims of extreme forms of racism, often used as a justification for dispossession. Modern estimates place the pre-Columbian population of North America at 10 million to 12 million. Four hundred years later, by the 1890s, the indigenous peoples had been reduced to approximately 300,000. In parts of Latin America, the results were similar. They face the same obstacles as indigenous peoples elsewhere, primarily separation from their lands.

Although many minority populations worldwide are m need of support, the Roma population, in particular, has become a major focus of the human rights community, especially in the run-up to the World Conference against Racism. For centuries, the Roma have been subjected to ill treatment, exclusion and discrimination in various forms. In June 2000, the independent expert to the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Yeung Kam Yeung Sik Yuen, identified four main areas of concern for the Roma: housing, education, employment and political participation. It is hoped that successful attempts to address the issue of discrimination against the Roma will benefit other minority groups.