Minority rights and anti-discrimination policy in Mauritius – the case of ‘Malaise Creole’

Abstract

This paper focuses on anti-discrimination guidelines covered by the mandates and reports of the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) as well as the Truth and Justice Commission (TJC) in Mauritius. It argues that in setting up the EOC and TJC, the government appears to have initiated a rethinking of the national ideology of multiculturalism from recognition in terms of ethnic collage to recognition as inclusive of issues of access and opportunity. This shift is particularly relevant for ‘bivalent’ communities such as the Creole minority, with respect to the ‘Malaise Creole’ problematic. These institutions have however only had a symbolic function to-date as the government has shied away from considering the redistribution dynamics that the commission reports have raised. The absence of disaggregated data precludes a coherent and long-term assessment of the impact of anti-discrimination programmes on marginalized populations, highlighting the diluted nature of the equal opportunity plans.