Separate positions - same goals: Asia-Pacific group

Six out of ten most populous countries in the world are located in the region of the Asia-Pacific that boasts a breathtaking ethnic and religious diversity.

 The biggest threat to the rights of ethnic and religious minorities in the world's most populous country, China, is its mix of authoritarian government, Han nationalism and rapid development. Minorities are strictly defined by Beijing, and some groups, especially those from resource rich areas, remain unrecognized. The Indonesian government, dominated by the Javanese and infamous for its corruption during the three decades under General Suharto, has been oppressive towards ethnic and religious minority groups in Indonesia. Ethnic and sectarian tensions have been exploited by the military in order to maintain influence and prevent close examination of past human rights abuses. 8% of the population in Australia consists of Asian and Muslim communities. They have faced harassment and are subject to the recent government emphasis on "Australian-ness". In India, the rights of many minorities have not been secured, despite a certain level of legal protection. Both low-caste Dalits ("Untouchables") and diverse indigenous tribal peoples (Adivasis) suffer pervasive marginalization within the Hindu majority (MRG 2013).

In order to research the issue of the treatment of minorities in this region we asked the delegates to answer a few questions. Cooperation of the states of the Asian-Pacific told us the last time in their joint statement that they believe in diversity and respect of human rights and at the same time thy were of the opinion that minority issues should stay the question of the internal affairs of the each state. This was repeated one more time today. Ms Maša Tiselj, the representative of India stated: "We agree that promotion of diversity and protection of human rights are crucial however we discovered that we have very different ideas on specific approaches and that common position would not be possible, so on Thursday no specific joint efforts of the Asia-Pacific region can be expected". 

The representative of Indonesia Ms Tina Orešnik came to the same conclusion: "The Asian - Pacific group has a large diapazon of mutual interests, and tackling the problems, that stem from the issue of minorities is certainly one of them. Yet, we also agree that we are countries, that are very different -  in terms of developmental, ethnical, cultural, political and even more generally speaking - societal profile. Therefore, it would be highly unreasonable to commit to a variety of declaratory goals, that would then prove to be difficult or even impossible to achieve in terms of the aforementioned differences. So each country will deal with the issues individually. Indonesia is, however, willing to offer any kind of help that is at our disposal should the need for this be expressed by (a) member state(s)."

The point of my interest was also whether the states of the Asia-Pacific agree with the main ideas and strategies of the WP proposed by UK, South Africa and India?

To sum up, you will that some countries have separate positions on the content of the WP as some parts may are not in accordance with their agenda.

China: 

"To be honest, when we got the WP on the issue of minorities, the first thing that surprised us, was a quite diverse group of states which are on the list of sponsors or signatories. Because of that we were sceptical from the very start what this kind of resolution could bring about. People's Republic of China sees this document pretty incoherent and in spots contradictory. Nevertheless, we do not like to comment on this WP more in detail. China is looking forward to the discussion and we are hoping that ambiguities and doubts will be explained and solved there successfully." 

South Korea: 

"Republic of Korea is a big advocate of human rights and believes in protecting in minorities. We support resolution and we are also the signatory of the resolution. We agree with clause “"condemn terrorist and extremist actions that are motivated by religious, ethnic, racial or any other hatred", besides they also asked the Human Rights Council to". As it was mentioned in the interview, Republic of Korea also supports intra-state controlling mechanisms, and even more, we support work of not just UN, but also regional organisations, which can contribute a lot to this topic. Overall, Republic of Korea agrees with preposed resolution and believes it is a very good one."

Indonesia: 

"Indonesia firmly believes in the good and noble intentions of the WP our distinguished fellow delegates have prepaired. Yet, we must be very careful when approaching such a resolution, both in term of understanding it properly, as well as positioning oneself either in a supporting or opposing position. It is crucial, that such a delicate issue as the minorities certainly are, is dealt with very carefully. There are certain points in the WP that should not be a point of dispute for none of the member states, for example the protection of human rights, striving towards a peaceful and inclusive multicultural society, etc. It is also important to appreciate the effort that has been put into it. There are some points though, that are not completely atuned with the general guidelines of our state and foreign policy, but this was to be expected, taking into consideration the differences between the countries as such"

Australia:
"Australia appreciates the effort UK, South Africa and India made when drafting the WP. As a signatory of this WP, we are, of course, very supportive about it."

We also asked the representative if they could point out some approaches their states are using in order to manage the issue of the minorities, and which could be translated all over the world? States are mostly convinced that the same (special) mechanism can not be applied universally, even though it can be said that equality among population is a path to solution.

India: 

"We believe that it is impossible to translate one specific approach all over the world because "the issue of minorities" differs from state to state, however we encourage the exchange of good practices among states. In general any approach that respects human rights, non-discrimination and promotes inter-cultural dialogue is a good approach. In India we are very proud of our multicultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious heritage most of which is the consequence of many different minorities groups that live in our country which is why we want to ensure their upliftment. What you may find interesting about our country is that we aim to improve socioeconomic conditions of our minorities through inclusive development and even through affirmative action. We are well aware of the fact that there had been a wide disparity in the social and educational status of different sections of a largely caste-based and tradition-bound society in the past. Therefore our Constitution permits positive discrimination in favour of the weak, the disadvantaged and the backward so that they can have the same starting point as other citizens and thus equal opportunities for active participation in the building of our vibrant nation. Our Constitution admits discrimination with reasons but prohibits discrimination without reason.

To ensure that protection of minorities in our constitution is also implemented we have established a Ministry of Minority Affairs as well as a number of other institutions such as National Commission for Minorities, National Commission for Scheduled Castes, National Commission for Backward Classes etc. We believe that we are doing a great job and progress can be seen especially in the areas of education, employment, infrastructural development, and also in the prevention and control of communal disharmony and violence."

South Korea:

"Republic of Korea does a lot of work on this field. Even though we are homogenous state, a significant A significant step towards concentrating on human rights protection was the signing of South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Social Charter in 2004. This instrument contains 21 objectives and some of these objectives have direct bearing on protection of minorities. Republic of Korea is also party of all treaties that protect human rights and also minorities. Even though that in past Korea’s attitudes of Koreans toward foreigners were often thought to be ethnocentric, citizens of South Korea are tolerant and open toward foreigners and immigrants living in our state."

China:

"People’s Republic of China does not believe in templates, which could be used all around the world in all cultures, political systems etc. Therefore we do not wish to impose our approach to this issue on any other country. China is a united multi-ethnic state with developed system of regional autonomy and legislation which protects all ethic minorities’ rights on all levels. This system really does work in China and this is the most important thing."

Indonesia:

"Although Indonesia is the largest Islamic state in the world, we try to be as considerate as possible when it comes to othe religions as well. An example of this migh seem not important at a first glance, but sends a rather powerful message about the importance of respecting all religions equally. Namely, despite being the country with the world's largest Muslim population, Protestantism and Catholicism are among the six officially recognized religions - along with Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Confucianism. All these religions' major religious holidays are national public holidays. This systemic approach - treating different minorities equally in all and every aspect of life - is what Indonesia believes is the right way to a sociaty of equality"

Australia:
"Australia has quite a difficult past when it comes to minorities. However, we have dealt with our past and are now very actively involved with our minority groups and making sure their rights are implemented. One way of doing that are centres that offer education, health service etc and are some sort of connection between the government and minorities. They are led either by the members of minority groups of government officials. Also, we are encouraging minority groups and others to be a part of programmes aimed at integration of minority members into society as equal members. We believe that if we are educated about each other’s cultures and habits, we will be able to accept each other better."

Reference:

MRG. 2013. World Directory for Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: Overview of Asia and Oceania. Available at: http://www.minorityrights.org/?lid=499