The status of new minorities in the light of the Framework Convention for the protection on national minorities
Abstract
This paper deals with the protection of immigrant communities as new minorities in Europe. As the definition of the term national minority is one of the most disputed problems of international minority protection, we, first, try to distinguish between traditional minorities and new minorities.
The issue of citizenship is a key aspect in the context of human rights protection and international anti-discrimination law. From the perspective of international and regional human rights bodies, the citizenship requirement has become increasingly suspect.
Only in rare cases may a distinction based on citizenship be justified with respect to legitimate aims and the principle of proportionality. This finding is supported by an analysis of the current practice under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
However, in this paper we also express cautious skepticism towards a "progressive" interpretation of international legal obligations that seems to ignore a long tradition of national approaches to the minority issue.