UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities 1992

Summary

UNGA resolution articulating specific rights for persons belonging to minorities including enjoyment of culture, use of language, participation in public life and in decisions affecting them, and the right to peaceful contact with members of the same minority across international borders. The UN Special Rapporteur on Minority Issues monitors implementation.

Relevance to the diaspora

Article 2(5) of the Declaration explicitly protects the right of minorities to maintain contacts with other members of their group across state boundaries — directly protecting Tamil diaspora-homeland links and transnational Tamil political organising.

Key provisions

• Art. 1 — state obligation to protect minority existence and identity
• Art. 2(1) — right to enjoy culture, practise religion, use language
• Art. 2(3) — right to participate in cultural, social, economic and public life
• Art. 2(5) — right to maintain contacts with other members of minority group internationally
• Art. 4 — state measures to promote minority rights

Primary source

Related entries

• → ICCPR Article 27 — Rights of Minorities (UN)
• → International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD) 1965 (UN)
• → UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) 2007 (UN)