Main protection concerns regarding displaced minorities
Physical safety and security of displaced minorities. The system of
protection in practice is oblivious to the importance of protecting the
characteristics of minorities during displacement.
Challenges facing these minorities may include, inter alia, violence
and xenophobic attacks against them; restrictions on freedom of
movement and checkpoints crossing; intimidation and discrimination
against them in host communities.
Examples: Iraq and Syria
Access to documentation
It can be particularly challenging for displaced minorities to obtain
documentation or the replacement of lost or destroyed documentation
given their status as minorities and as displaced persons. Minorities
such as Roma, who already lack civil documentation and birth
registration, face disproportionate obstacles in trying to get
documentation and to register for instance as IDPs to be considered
for humanitarian assistance.
Examples: Serbia and Kosovo, Ukraine (Roma IDPs)
Standards of living and access to food, water and sanitation, health
care and education
Given their extreme vulnerability, displaced minorities face additional
challenges in accessing basic services. Due to discrimination and
marginalization, or because their specific ways of life are
misunderstood, minorities who are displaced often lack proper access
to water and sanitation, to culturally appropriate food, to health care
and to education.
Examples: Serbia and Kosovo (Roma IDPs)
Housing, land and property rights