Speaker: Thank you Chair. My name is [inaudible] from the national campaign of Dalit
human rights on behalf of the Rural Development Center, India. Community discrimination
on work and descent which includes the Dalit community from which I am from experiences
discriminatory practices which are not limited to racism and or physical appearance.
pervasive social hierarchies paired with the notions of purity and pollution, dictated
endogamy and forced physical segregation create a complex culture of unwritten practices.
The [inaudible] people in Africa, the Roma scattered around the globe, the Barakumins of
Japan, Quilombos in Brazil are a selection of various groups who experience oppression
based on discrimination on work and descent. In addition, sexual violence, gender based
violence and the enslavement of women and girls and the control of their reproductive rights
is a common enforcement mechanism of the imposed social order those communities face.
With this context, I wish to share my recommendations beyond establishing protection
mechanisms for one specific group and call them by their names. The recognition of the
work and descent based and hierarchical oppression must be recognised together with all
the communities with which it affects. To establish a working group to examine the gaps in
protection for communities discriminated on work and descent. My second recommendation
is to establish a UN international year on the rights of communities discriminated on work
and descent to allow focused and sustained attention on the topic. I also appeal to the
member states to support us create a resolution, recognising the unique discriminatory
practices affecting all communities discriminated on work and descent. Thank you.