A/75/211 emphasize the increasing marginalization of minorities around the world, their greater vulnerability during health and other crisis, such as the COVID -19 pandemic, the growing targeting of minorities by hate speech on social and other media and in hate crimes around the world, the central role of the human rights of minorities in addressing their exclusion in order to prevent ethnic conflicts, and the lack of visibility of or reference to minority issues in many forums, even within United Nations institutions. 3 G. Follow-up to other thematic priorities 13. The Special Rapporteur remains deeply concerned about developments related to his mandate’s thematic priorities. He continues to receive disturbing reports that the campaign by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to eradicate statelessness by 2024, the “#IBelong” campaign, is threatened as procedures are continuing in Assam, India, as well as in other states in the country, which may result in many millions being deemed able to demonstrate they are citizens, and where new union legislation excluding members of the country’s Muslim minority from accelerated pathways to citizenship may lead them to be deemed “foreigners” and therefore non-citizens, which may result in their becoming stateless. 14. Following the Special Rapporteur’s thematic priority in 2019 on education, language and the human rights of minorities, he is inc reasingly being made aware of States that are appearing to discount the rights of linguistic minorities in matters involving language, the central component of their identity, and even increasingly dismissing or denting the linguistic rights of minorities in education. The Special Rapporteur is of the view that such developments will need to be addressed in targeted and accessible guidelines, based on good practices in many States, to provide better guidance on how to understand and implement effectively the human rights of persons belonging to minorities in this critical area. III. Study on the significance and scope of the four categories of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in the United Nations A. Introduction 15. In the present study, the Special Rapporteur builds upon his 2019 study on the need for a working definition of a minority ( A/74/160) and considers the significance and scope of the four categories of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities to be found in various instruments of the United Nations, in order: (a) To clarify the significance of the four categories of minorities acknowledged in the United Nations system in order to avoid controversies and contradictions, both in and outside the United Nations, which may undermine efforts to achieve the full and effective realization of the human rights of minorities; (b) To provide a working definition of national or ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities in line with the Special Rapporteur’s mandate provided by the Human Rights Council. 16. The Special Rapporteur must as part of his mandate raise awareness and work for the full and effective realization of the rights of persons belonging to four __________________ 3 20-09835 See www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/Minorities/SR/Awareness_raising_and_other_activities _2019_2020.docx. 5/20