Minority Rights

@minorityrights
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186 Posts
Sharing developments and academic commentary on (national, ethnic, religious, indigenous) minorities and equality law, with special focus on Europe.
Set up as part of MINOTEE: https://research.ceu.edu/en/projects/minority-rights-towards-effective-european-enforcement. Not reflecting official institutional positions.
Minority Rights5d ago
China is implementing a new "Ethnic Unity" law to mandate national assimilation. The legislation requires all citizens and organizations to prioritize a "common consciousness," enforces Mandarin-only education from kindergarten through high school, and allows for the prosecution of overseas critics. Experts warn this effectively ends the constitutional promise of minority autonomy and poses a strategic threat to different cultural identities.
đź“–: https://www.opb.org/article/2026/03/11/china-is-expected-to-push-for-an-ethnic-unity-law-that-critics-say-will-cement-assimilation/
China is expected to push for an ethnic unity law that critics say will cement assimilation

China is expected to approve a sweeping “ethnic unity” law that critics say tightens assimilation and weakens minority rights. On Thursday, legislators at the National People’s Congress are expected to approve it.

OPB
Minority Rights6d ago
Can the validity of historical treaties be challenged today? In the 19th century, Coast Salish Indigenous communities signed treaties that transferred vast areas of land to the United States, often under unequal conditions or without full understanding. Today, disputes over land and fishing rights continue, showing how these agreements still shape present-day inequalities. If consent is unequal, can the outcome ever be just?
đź“–https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/politics-and-government/treaties-and-agreements-american-indians-united-states
Russia Sells Alaska to the United States | History | Research Starters | EBSCO Research

<p>The sale of Alaska by Russia to the United States in 1867 marked a significant moment in North American history. Following unofficial negotiations before the Civil War, formal discussions resumed after the war under the guidance of Baron Edouard de Stoeckl, the Russian minister to the U.S. Motivated by several factors, including concerns over British expansion and the failure of the Russian American Company, Russia agreed to sell Alaska for $7.2 million. The treaty was signed on March 30, 1867, but the formal transfer took place on October 18 of the same year, delayed by issues in Congress regarding funding.</p> <p>The acquisition was met with mixed reactions from the American public, with some viewing it as a folly while others saw it as a strategic move to enhance U.S. territory and secure friendship with Russia. Upon the transfer, around 30,000 indigenous Alaskans and a small number of Russians were living in the territory. Initially, U.S. governance over Alaska was marked by neglect and disorder, significantly impacting the native populations. It wasn't until the Organic Act of 1884 that a more structured government was established, leading to improvements in the living conditions of the inhabitants. The legacy of Russian rule, particularly through the Russian Orthodox Church, continues to be felt in Alaska today.</p>

EBSCO
Minority RightsMar 16
The Uyghurs - a Muslim minority often described as a nation without a state - facing everyday repression in Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Reports describe mass detention in “re-education” camps, pervasive digital surveillance, forced labor allegations, and restrictions on religious and cultural practices. For many observers, the situation raises one of the most serious human rights concerns of our time - and difficult questions for international law.
đź“–https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/2022-08-31/22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf
Minority RightsMar 13
Still not including minorities? A report reveals that in UK TV newsrooms 63% of minority staff report racism and 70% see no path to leadership. Diversity efforts fail to provide career progression and minority staff experience daily judgement because of claims that they are oly a “diversity hire”.
đź“–: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/mar/04/journalism-minority-newsroom-jobs-report
Minority RightsMar 11

Does secular neutrality protect pluralism or narrow it? Faith and Politics in Kosovo: The Status of Religious Communities in a Secular Country discusses debates around secularism and the hijab ban in public schools.

đź“– https://www.academia.edu/15299700/Faith_and_Politics_in_Kosovo_The_Status_of_Religious_Communities_in_a_Secular_Country

Minority RightsMar 9
For centuries, Native American enslavement has been hidden in plain sight -- renamed as “servitude,” buried in archives, and left out of national memory. In a powerful piece for The New Yorker, Geraldo Cadava explores how Indigenous slavery operated across North America, shaping economies, empires, and settler expansion, and how a new public history project is working to confront this erased past.
Why the silence, and what does it mean to finally name it clearly?
đź“–https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-hidden-history-of-native-american-enslavement
Minority RightsMar 5
India’s Dalits (Untouchables) are 1/6th of the population. Compared to other minorities and despite constitutional prohibitions on discrimination on grounds of caste, they continue to encounter exclusion and violence, esp. based on religious beliefs. Annapurna Waughray argues castes should be conceptualized as sui generis entities and that institutions should reconsider “minority” paradigms and castes’ roles in them.
đź“– https://www.jstor.org/stable/24675791
Minority RightsMar 4
Can segregation be “invisible”?
In D.H. and Others v. the Czech Republic, the ECtHR found indirect discrimination when Roma children were disproportionately sent to “special schools.”
Nearly 20 years later, has segregation disappeared or just become less visible?
đź“– https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-83256
Minority RightsMar 3

Is the 'green transition' just new-age colonialism? 🌍 Christina Allard’s 2025 study explores how renewable projects in Sápmi often bypass Indigenous rights. Finding: "Sustainability" is being used to re-legitimize old extractivist patterns, threatening Sámi sovereignty.

Read this study here: https://doi.org/10.36368/jns.v17i1.1221

📸 Granbergs Nya Aktiebolag

Minority RightsFeb 28

Olgun Akbulut’s 2025 commentary warns that ECtHR minority protection is shifting from pluralism toward state-led "cohesion." He finds expanded state discretion where identity loses ground to national uniformity, signaling a dangerous trend for democratic pluralism.

đź“– Read more here: https://doi.org/10.53779/OLAK2006

Commentary: Shifting Standards? The ECtHR’s Evolving Approach to Minority Rights | Journal on Ethnopolitics and Minority Issues in Europe