On the 21st of March, 2008 the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD) is commemorated. On this day, it is important to critically assess the extent of efforts made to eradicate racial discrimination and address its on-going challenges in Asia, especially in its new emerging forms. It is evident that regional cooperation must take place to firmly eradicate racism in Asia as such discrimination transcends state borders.
Today, sisters and brothers around the world stand together, including Dalits, indigenous peoples, ethnic or national minorities, migrants, migrant workers, refugees, asylum seekers, among others, to proclaim an end to racial discrimination in all its varied forms.

On the 21st of March, 2008 the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (IDERD) is commemorated. On this day, it is important to critically assess the extent of efforts made to eradicate racial discrimination and address its on-going challenges in Asia, especially in its new emerging forms. It is evident that regional cooperation must take place to firmly eradicate racism in Asia as such discrimination transcends state borders.

Relevance of IDERD

IDERD became official in 1966, after the fateful day in 1960 where police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid "pass laws”. It is encouraging that after the incident, human rights standards on the core principle of non-discrimination has further developed and resulted in the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities, and more recently the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Against racism, against colonialism

In many Asian states, the struggle against racism was an important dimension in the struggle for independence against colonialisms.

Unfortunately, today, Asian governments deny that racism and other forms of discrimination exist in their respective societies. Asia continues to face racism after colonialism in its new and varied forms as many national identities are based on a dominant or majority identity of certain ethnic groups, and fail to acknowledge the diversity of cultures, religions and other identities within state boundaries. Conflict, violence and death has stemmed from systemic marginalisation of minority groups.

Racism today: discrimination, unbalanced prosperity, and poor political representation of the minority groups.

Particular attention must be paid to the marginalised minority groups in Asian societies, for example, the Dalits, indigenous peoples, ethnic or national minorities, immigrants, migrant workers, refugees, internal displaced peoples, and asylum seekers, among others, who all face racial discrimination in different forms.

Likewise, discrimination based on gender, age, class, religion and belief, sexual orientation, gender identity, physical or health status often aggravates identity-based discrimination indicating the inter-sectionality of discrimination. This has resulted in a range of forms of human rights abuses and threats to human security.

In the search for prosperity, indigenous peoples and ethnic as well as national minorities were left behind in national economic development. Wealth generated by national economy is often the result of exploiting resources in their communities. Such benefits do not trickle down to these groups. Poverty is more prevalent, and access to social services is more difficult for marginalised groups. Economic globalisation too has aggravated the disparity between ethnic groups.

Even in so-called democratic states, the existing forms of political representation have failed to address the structural imbalances faced by minorities. Political disenfranchisement has prevented minority groups from properly accessing justice systems for the redress of their grievances.

The clearest consequence of the twin impact of economic and political marginalisation is conflict. Most violent conflicts around Asia occur along ethnic lines, highlighting the disparity among different groups in terms of economic and political control over their own lives. Ethnicity-based conflicts happen at the community level in people’s struggle for land and the right to manage their own development, or at the national level in the assertion of the right to self-determination.

Contemporary forms of racism: xenophobic practices, disaster-related discrimination, environmental racism and religious exclusivism

The ongoing trend of the global war on terrorism has promoted xenophobic practices such as racial and religious profiling. The targets are mainly Malay, South Asians or Arab Muslims. Governments facing long-running ethnic and political conflicts in the region have taken advantage of the global “war on terror” by categorising their own conflicts under this framework. Any movement to assert the legitimate right to self-determination has been treated as an act of terrorism and has led to various forms of human rights violations. Instead of acknowledging and addressing the roots of conflict, many governments enact internal security laws to suppress their citizens and approach it in militaristic way.

For the last decades, Asia has become the recipient of humanitarian assistance as it has suffered from natural and man-made disasters. The process of aid selection, however, has been discriminatory and excluded certain groups based on ethnicity, religion, gender, and caste, among others.

Newer forms of racism also include environmental racism, which is a human rights violation and a form of discrimination caused by government and private sector policies, practice, action or inaction which disproportionately targets and harms the environment, health, biodiversity, local economy, quality of life and security of communities, workers, groups, and individuals based on race, class, color, gender, caste, ethnicity and/or national origin.

Religion has an important role to play in combating racism and racial discrimination. However, some religious exclusivism closely linked to political parties or ideologies have promoted a culture of intolerance and discrimination against persons or groups belonging to other religions and minorities by defaming other religions such as Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christanophobia and other forms of religious defamation.

Nevertheless, many Asian governments have not yet ratified the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD).

Challenges: regional cooperation against racism

Recognising that discrimination also takes places beyond and across national borders, Asian states and civil society groups are challenged to enhance bilateral and regional cooperation, particularly to develop credible and effective human rights standards and bodies that will address these problems.

The convening on the Durban Review Conference (DRC) in 2009 is a positive step towards the elimination of racial discrimination. However, for the DRC to be truly effective, Asian states and civil society will be required to review racial discrimination within their country contexts, especially in its newer forms. Only through the acknowledgement of problems rooted in racism can states honestly promote genuine coexistence between different peoples.

In view of all the above, FORUM-ASIA:

• Calls on all Asian governments to take the ratification of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination as a matter of urgency;
• Urges all Asian states to strengthen law enforcement to ensure justice for victims of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, including its new forms;
• Calls on all Asian states to follow up the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA) adopted at the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) held in Durban from 31 August to 8 September 2001;
• Pushes for the National Human Rights Institutions to conduct their own stocktaking and assessment of the implementation of DDPA and join the civil society processes on DRC more proactively.