New Minorities as a New Frontier for Minority Rights Regimes

Roberta Medda-Windischer and Katharina Crepaz of Autonomy Experience contribute to the volume Are Minority Rights (Still) Human Rights? with the chapter New Minorities as a New Frontier for Minority Rights Regimes: The Case of Non-EU Citizens in the Context of EU Member States.

Marking the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the 25th anniversary of the Council of Europe’s key minority‑rights instruments, this volume examines whether and how minority rights fit within the broader human rights framework.

Abstract of the article
‘Even though I may not have a definition of what constitutes a minority, I would dare to say that I know a minority when I see one.’ This often-quoted and, at the same time, highly controversial statement by Max van der Stoel, the first OSCE High Commissioner on National Minorities, illustrates one of the core – and still unresolved – issues of minority rights: What or who constitutes a minority, and which individual and group rights should arise from this status? Among policymakers, academics and public opinion, there is still considerable ambiguity around the definition of minorities – not to mention “new” migrant minorities – their status and the specific rights deriving therefrom. If many controversies and debates still surround the concept and definition of minorities and, in particular, “new” minorities, fundamental rights are not clear either. In fact, despite an all-encompassing approach based on fundamental rights, whereby these rights are defined by their universality and applicability to everyone, substantial differences between specific dimensions of fundamental rights for different individuals and groups can still be seen. Additionally, a thoroughly encompassing framework for protecting the rights of new minorities, especially the right to identity and the right to participation in society, including political participation, is still lacking. This chapter aims to shed light on the heterogeneity of linguistic, religious and/or cultural new minorities, and on the fundamental rights that different types of new minorities are equipped with, in particular non-EU minorities as EU member states are concerned. In conclusion, potential ways of creating inclusive and cohesive societies that respect all types of minority rights is discussed, and a model of human and minority rights for diversity governance (the ‘Tree Model’) is outlined as a promising concept.

Here is the link to the book: https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/are-minority-rights-still-human-rights-9781509984558/