A/74/160 jurisprudence, the Committee has in more recent years further confirmed that the textual reading of this section of the treaty, consistent with the ordinary meaning of the terms as provided for as a starting point in international law, would seem to encapsulate fairly clearly what could be described as a working understanding or definition of the concept of a minority. 47. It was, however, mainly from the 1990s on that the Committee began to adopt views on an increasing number of communications involving article 27. This permitted the Committee to produce by 1994 the following description in its general comment of who it considered to be a member of a linguistic, religious or ethnic minority: 5.1. The terms used in article 27 indicate that the persons designed to be protected are those who belong to a group and who share in common a culture, a religion and/or a language. Those terms also indicate that the individuals designed to be protected need not be citizens of the State party. In this regard, the obligations deriving from article 2 (1) are also relevant, since a State party is required under that article to ensure that the rights protected under the Covenant are available to all individuals within its territory and subject to its jurisdiction, except rights which are expressly made to apply to citizens, for example, political rights under article 25. A State party may not, therefore, restrict the rights under article 27 to its citizens alone. 5.2. Article 27 confers rights on persons belonging to minorities which “exist” in a State party. Given the nature and scope of the rights envisaged under that article, it is not relevant to determine the degree of permanence that the term “exist” connotes. Those rights simply are that individuals belonging to those minorities should not be denied the right, in community with members of their group, to enjoy their own culture, to practise their religion and speak their language. Just as they need not be nationals or citizens, they need not be permanent residents. Thus, migrant workers or even visitors in a State party constituting such minorities are entitled not to be de nied the exercise of those rights. As any other individual in the territory of the State party, they would, also for this purpose, have the general rights, for example, to freedom of association, of assembly, and of expression. The existence of an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority in a given State party does not depend upon a decision by that State party but rather must be established by objective criteria. 16 48. The above description of who is a minority can be summarized as involving the following: (a) The criteria are objective, factually based and not dependent on State recognition; (b) There is no subjective restriction, either in terms of desire to maintain one’s identity or of being non-dominant in any particular area; (c) All persons belonging to an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority in a given State are included, regardless of their legal status or length of association with a State. Citizenship or temporal association with the state need not be demonstrated; (d) Individuals are the holders of rights under article 27, even if the interests that are involved may be collective; (e) The existence of an ethnic, religious or linguistic minority is not determined by a State or dependent on some form of recognition. It is established by objective criteria. __________________ 16 16/19 Human Rights Committee general comment No. 23 (1994) on the rights of minorities. 19-11967