A/HRC/35/41/Add.1 denounce police persecution in the Flores neighbourhood. Civil society groups denounced irregularities in the investigation of the case. The impossibility for the association he headed to present itself as a plaintiff had meant it was unable to gain access to any information regarding the investigation. Asylum seekers 57. According to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in the period 2011-2015, Syrians represented 39 per cent of the refugee population in Argentina. The Special Rapporteur was informed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the National Commission for Refugees that the country intended to receive a greater number of Syrian refugees and that a decree had been issued to facilitate this. 58. The law provides for free access to education and health care for refugees. However, organizations working with refugees have reported challenges relating to the absence of a comprehensive settlement scheme, particularly in terms of gaining access to housing, the labour market, social security or even adequate health coverage, including for children. As a consequence, refugees are likely to be exploited in the workplace and at a greater risk of falling into the informal economy, which further contributes to their stigmatization as potential “criminals”. 59. The Ministry of Public Defence (Ministerio Público de la Defensa) documents 21 possible discriminatory practices in the processing of asylum claims, based on the gender identity, sexual orientation or nationality of the claimant. Certain nationalities seem to be systematically subjected to suspicion regarding the validity of their claims, including Cubans, Dominicans (especially women) and Senegalese nationals. The Ministry also indicated that, outside of Buenos Aires, translators are rarely available to assist nonSpanish-speaking asylum seekers, who are reportedly not systematically informed of the procedure and their right to free legal counsel. C. Afro-Argentines 60. Until recent years, the very existence of Afro-Argentine people as a component of society had been negated in Argentina. It is believed that the wars of independence took a serious toll on the number of Afrodescendants in the country. The 2010 census found that approximately 150,000 people claimed to be of African descent, with 92 per cent of those born in Argentina. In total, 70.3 per cent of that population is thought to be concentrated in the province of Buenos Aires and the cities of Buenos Aires, Entre Ríos, Santa Fe and Córdoba. However, those figures have been contested as an underestimation because of the way the census was administered. 61. Society at large still does not recognize the existence of Afro-Argentines. It was reported that in 2002 an Afro-Argentine woman, who was president of a civil society organization, had been detained at the international airport as immigration officers considered that her passport was forged because they did not believe the actual existence of Afro-Argentines. Although she filed a complaint, she never received a response or reparation. The discrimination map developed by the National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism 22 shows that 38 per cent of those interviewed admitted an aversion toward people of African descent, while only 3 per cent acknowledged that this group was most affected by racial discrimination. By contrast, 61 per cent of the Afrodescendants interviewed acknowledged having been subjected to discrimination. 62. Civil society organizations pointed to the absence of educational content on African history, ignorance about the historical contribution of African people to State building and the stereotyped folkloric representation that society holds of them. Today, Afro-Argentines 21 22 Information provided by the Ministry of Public Defence. See footnote 19. 13