Abstract
While UN treaty bodies have sought to address forms of oppression resulting from the intersection of gender, race and/or disability through their practice, they rarely recognise the experience of groups at the intersection of other social categories. This article uses the lens of intersectionality to analyse the practice of UN treaty bodies in relation to the intersection of minority and refugee status. We argue that while minority-refugees have fled persecution connected to their minority status, UN treaty bodies have failed to appreciate the impact of their location at the intersection of persons belonging to minorities and refugees in host States on their right to preserve their cultural identity. By failing to address the distinct experience of minority-refugees, UN treaty bodies risk participating in their oppression. Further, we reveal that current practice not only has potentially negative consequences for minority-refugees – as both individuals and groups – and for the host society but may even undermine the ability of IHRL to achieve its overarching objectives.
Highlights
We argue that while minority-refugees have fled persecution connected to their minority status, UN treaty bodies have failed to appreciate the impact of their location at the intersection of persons belonging to minorities and refugees in host States on their right to preserve their cultural identity
International human rights law (IHRL) should, in theory, be ‘indivisible, interdependent and interrelated’,1 insofar as the enjoyment of one set of rights is recognised to be necessary for the effective enjoyment of all others
This is no different in the UN, where non-governmental organisations (NGOs) Shadow Reports to the UN treaty bodies in relation to major refugee receiving States following the humanitarian crisis have focused on the ‘universal’ experience of refugees and have, prioritised violations of basic refugee rights, such as the principle of non-refoulement
Summary
International human rights law (IHRL) should, in theory, be ‘indivisible, interdependent and interrelated’,1 insofar as the enjoyment of one set of rights is recognised to be necessary for the effective enjoyment of all others. critical theorists argue that, in practice, IHRL fails to achieve this as it locks individuals into rigid categories – as, for example, refugees or women – on the basis of their presumed primary identity, and predetermines their needs on the basis of a standardised experience. IHRL fails to appreciate how individuals located at the intersection of different social categories experience different forms of oppression as compared to those seen as typifying each category. In so doing, IHRL further marginalises the experience of these individuals and even risks contributing to their oppression, when, on the contrary, it is supposed to recognise and combat such oppression. This article draws on scholarship from the fields of social psychology and acculturation studies, in order to provide unique insights in relation to the impact of intersectionality on minority-refugees’ experience of oppression in host States and the implications of current UN treaty body practice. The majority of this literature pertains to single-identity categories such as immigrants, refugees and ethno-cultural minorities, rather than intersectional categories such as minority-refugees.. This allows us to identify key recommendations that would allow UN treaty bodies to respond to the intersectional experience of minority-refugees in the future
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