Fundamental Issues Relating to Racism and Racial Discrimination in the Asian Region Need to Be Included in All Preparatory and Experts' Meetings Leading to the World Conference against Racism

As the preparation for this conference is under way, it is necessary to stress a need for an open process in which all groups and persons suffering from various forms of discrimination will be able to bring their situations to the notice of the conference and to the international community.

Asia is the largest continent in the world with a population amounting to more than 2.5 billion. In this context, it is only natural that there are very acute forms of discrimination that exist in this vast continent. All preparatory meetings leading to this conference, particularly those held in Asia, must provide sufficient opportunity for Asian communities to bring their grievances to the notice of the conference. The two meetings to be in held in Asia are the experts' seminar, 5 Ð7 September, 2000, in Bangkok, Thailand, and the Asia regional preparatory committee meeting in January 2001 in Tehran, Iran.

In these circumstances it is rather disturbing to see that the themes fixed for the experts' seminar to be held in Bangkok is 'Migrant Workers and Trafficking of Persons, with Particular Reference to Women and Children.' This way of fixing the theme will exclude discussion on all other fundamental issues. While the topic that has been set is of great importance and deserves the support of everyone, it in no way exhausts the forms of discrimination in Asia. In fact, the theme fixed in this way will exclude the discussion of many vital issues. For this reason, the beneficiaries of fixing the theme in this way are the perpetrators who cause such discrimination and political systems that protect such perpetrators. To shut the door to those groups of persons defeats the purposes of the world conference and the preparatory work done for that purpose.

As the fixing of the themes for such meetings are done by the organizing group of the conference based in the United Nations High Commissioner's Office, it is necessary that they take necessary steps to avoid the exclusion of any form of discrimination practiced in the region from being discussed. This particularly applies to entrenched forms of discrimination affecting millions of people.

In terms of the forthcoming experts' seminar in Asia, this means that either the theme of the meeting should be changed or, if that is not possible for any reason, to make allowance for discussion of all issues relevant to the world conference, despite the narrow limits set by the theme of the seminar.

Therefore, we urge the United Nations High Commissioner to take all steps to avoid exclusion of vital issues of discrimination in Asia from the forth-coming experts' seminar in Asia. We eagerly await a positive reaction on this matter from the United Nations High Commissioner of Human Rights.