E/CN.4/2001/21 page 9 C. Missions envisaged by the Special Rapporteur 15. Although the Special Rapporteur’s visit to Australia had to be postponed for a number of reasons (see A/54/347, para. 17, and A/55/304, paras. 20 and 21), the Australian Government informed him of its desire to receive him during April 2001. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of Australia in Geneva is at present making practical arrangements for this visit. Its purpose will be to deal with the main concerns previously raised by the Special Rapporteur, namely, the effects of the Native Title Amendment Act, 1998, the intra-Australian reconciliation process, the measures taken on behalf of Aborigines removed from their families during childhood and forced to assimilate the European way of life (Lost Generation), and the situation of young Aborigines up against the judicial system. The Special Rapporteur will also obtain information on the Australian policy of multiculturalism and on inter-ethnic relations. 16. On the basis of allegations received concerning the situation of several ethnic groups in Canada, particularly in the province of Nova Scotia, the Special Rapporteur informed the Canadian authorities of his desire to look into the cases brought to his attention on the spot. The Canadian Government replied favourably to this request and made a point of recalling its standing offer to all special rapporteurs to visit Canada if they so wished. II. REPLIES OF GOVERNMENTS TO THE SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR’S REQUEST FOR INFORMATION 17. In accordance with paragraph 29 of resolution 2000/14, the Special Rapporteur addressed a circular letter on 29 June 2000 to Governments, organizations of the United Nations system and non-governmental organizations. This chapter includes the main points of the replies relating specifically to the Special Rapporteur’s mandate which were received from the Governments of Belarus, Cuba, Netherlands, Qatar and Spain. The Special Rapporteur also received from the Governments of Cyprus, Japan and the Slovak Republic copies of periodic reports they had recently submitted to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination; these reports contain useful information on the various measures taken in these countries and may be consulted under the symbols CERD/C/384/Add.4, CERD/C/350/Add.2 and CERD/328/Add.1. The communication from Israel concerning anti-Semitism is summarized in section A of Chapter III. The communications from Colombia and Hungary relating specifically to the on-the-spot follow-up of missions are summarized in Chapter V. The full text of these communications containing additional information may be consulted in the secretariat of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. The contributions received from non-governmental organizations (Amnesty International, European Roma Rights Centre and Liberty) have been incorporated into chapters III, IV and V. A. Belarus 18. The Republic of Belarus has provided general information on its legislation designed to curb racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, on measures to prevent these phenomena, as well as on anti-Semitism (see chapter III, section A, “anti-Semitism”, 30-37). It is stated that: