Minority_Rights

Many states are composed of, on the one hand, a majority population and, on the other, ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities. Different kinds of minorities may be distinguished, among others, ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities. Combinations of these are also found. They have often lived in a certain country for a long time. For tha reason the usual term in the OSCE is "national minorities" (who have the nationality of the country concerned). Some scholars, however, also consider as minorities "modern migrants" (those who have settled outside their own country only recently, including "guest workers", refugees and stateless people).

Such minorities often think of themselves as nations. Some of these even aspire to independent statehood. Further, in some states, unfortunately, in addition to suffering from social and economic exclusion and violations of the full range of human rights, minorities are directly affected by violent conflict to a disproportionate degree. International law guarantees individuals against discrimination by virtue of this minority status. To what extent does it recognise special rights for them? To what extent does it recognise rights inhering in the minority group as a whole? Can a "national minority" invoke the right to self-determination to claim separate statehood?

With the rise of ethno-nationalism in many parts of the world, the status of ethnic minorities and other groups in international law has again become a central issue.