A.P.F.F. asbl Statement of the l’APFF and the ADHUM at the 14th Forum on Minority Issues of the UN Human Rights Council Conflict prevention and the protection of the human rights of minorities 4. Minority rights for effective conflict prevention Geneva, 2-3 December 2021 Madame Chair, According to many observers, it is a miracle that the linguistic conflicts in Belgium did not have dramatic consequences, especially in Fourons, where shots were fired several times in the 1980s. Or in Ghent, during violent demonstrations in the 1990s, on the occasion of the Exploration du Monde conferences in French. The flaming extremists, chanting "French-speaking Rats, get the hell out!" had come with ambulances promising to leave the scene when they were filled with victims. L’Association pour la Promotion de la Francophonie en Flandre (APFF), which is also mandated to represent the Association de Promotion des Droits Humains et des Minorités (ADHUM) considers that action must be taken at four levels to prevent conflicts involving minorities. Primay : identification of minorities Several human rights actors have insisted in previous Minority Forums on "the importance of having disaggregated data for the implementation and monitoring of the rights of persons belonging to minorities". This would be possible in Belgium if the language component of the decennial census was restored, which has not been authorized since a law of July 1961, under pressure from some 300 Flemish mayors. Without having such data, it is easy for the Flemish nationalists to plead for the abolition of the linguistic facilities granted to French-speakers, in all the municipalities with special regimes located in the Dutchspeaking region, such as in Renaix, on the pretext that they are not numerous enough. In the absence of a census, we have interesting data on the French-speaking demographic and sociolinguistic reality of Flanders. By consulting the annual reports of "Kind & Gezin", an organization of the Flemish Community dedicated to early childhood and families, we observe that in Flanders, the percentage of mothers speaking in French to newborns has increased by 50% over the last fifteen years, rising from 4.2% in 2005 to 6.4% in 2020. This data is obviously not on the same level as the linguistic census, but it provides a good idea of the vitality of the Francophone minority in the North of the country. Secondary: recognition of minorities For the Flemish authorities, the Francophones who live in Flanders are not a minority. Flanders thus opposes the opinion of the Venice Commission, which identified the minorities that must be protected in Belgium, including the French-speaking minority in Flanders, in Council of Europe Resolution 1301 of September 26, 2002. Association pour la Promotion de la Francophonie en Flandre • A.P.F.F. asbl/vzw Secrétariat : Spreeuwenlaan 12 • B-8420 De Haan • Belgique Téléphone : +32 (0)59.23.77.01 • Télécopieur : +32 (0)59.23.77.02 Portable : +32 (0)479.35.50.54 • Courriel : apff@francophonie.be Site : http://www.francophonie.be/ndf