Minority groups in the South Asian region still have to endure discrimination, violence, rape and even killings because of their ethnic, religious or indigenous identity, a report by the Minority Rights Group International reveals.

In its flagship annual publication, the MRG documents cases from all over the world, including South Asia, showing how members of minority groups face higher levels of violence and are often targeted for attacks.

The report, The State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous People 2011, cites cases from war-torn regions, such as Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, but also from other South Asian countries such as India and Bangladesh.

Minority women
The report has specifically documented the position of women from minority groups, for whom life can be extremely hard in some regions.

According to MRG, minority women are particularly vulnerable because they often come from poor backgrounds and live in remote areas. The report highlights the plight of India’s Dalit women, who experience multiple levels of violence, due to caste and gender.

“They face killing, rape, gang rape and custodial torture on a daily basis,” the report says. “Poverty, low literacy and social marginalisation harm their attempts to get out of their situation.”

High on the agenda
In South Asia, it’s not only women who have to endure violence and discrimination, according to the MRG. The region “remains high on the international minority rights agenda,” the report states. Despite international attention to the region, in general, no real improvements were made compared to previous years.

The situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan more or less remained the same, despite efforts from the international community to stamp out terrorism, insurgencies and religious violence. Local imposition of Sharia law in parts of Pakistan is at the expense of women’s and girls’ rights, especially when it comes to education.

Maoist rebels
In India, fighting continues between government troops and the Naxalites, a Maoist movement which now has a presence in a third of all Indian districts. The Maoists appeals to Dalits, landless labourers and other marginalised communities, arguing that that they are all excluded from the wealth being generated in the country.

However, the MRG says that the Maoists are also responsible for serious abuses of the population, including destroying hospitals and schools, and torture and killing of civilians.

The Indian government has now identified the Maoist threat as the number one priority for security forces.

Sri Lanka
In Sri Lanka, the standoff between the government and the Tamil community since the end of the Tamil war in 2009, continues. The MRG says that ongoing rights abuses by the government, targeting the Tamil population, need to be examined by an independent body, such as the UN.

The MRG reports extra-judicial killings of Tamil Tigers prisoners in a refugee camp and the arbitrary detention of up to 8,000 prisoners alleged to be linked to the LTTE. “Both violate international legal principles and is akin to a collective punishment against a community,” the report states.

Leading opponents
In general, the MRG says that while women are very often the victims of violence worldwide, they are also its leading opponents. “In many countries, the struggle to stamp out sexual violence against minorities is being led by the minority women activists themselves, sometimes at serious risk to their own safety,” the report concludes.