Misplaced Pages

Revision as of 02:25, 23 January 2015

This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages) This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Racism in Asia" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) This article may require cleanup to meet Misplaced Pages's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this article if you can. (February 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Racism in Asia exists for similar reasons that racism elsewhere exists. In general, racism exists in these countries due to historical events that occurred either recently or thousands of years ago.

In Bangladesh, racist sentiments exist between citizens of Bangladesh and citizens of Pakistan. This conflict goes back to when India was first partitioned into West Pakistan and East Pakistan when citizens of today's Pakistan dominated the original Pakistani government, in these nations, racism has been also observed among religions. In Cambodia, one of the biggest genocides in history occurred, with the Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot persecuting ethnic Chinese and other foreigners living in Cambodia. This conflict stems from Chinese involvement in Cambodia before the Vietnam War. In Israel, racism exists between Jewish Israelis and Palestinians, both Muslim and Christian. Racism in Israel stems from the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict created with the founding of Israel.

Overall, racism exists in Asia because of ethnic conflicts that existed in the region for thousands of years.

Bangladesh

Disputes between East and West Pakistan soon after the partition of India were beginning to give rise to racist ideas and sentiments towards West Pakistani social groups, West Pakistanis being seen as 'Mleccha' or inferior, uncivilized tribals compared to the educated Bengalis. After the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War, non-Bengalis, specifically Biharis and other Muslim refugees from India suffered from active ethnic discrimination. They are not considered full-fledged citizens of Bangladesh and until recently were not allowed to vote. The Bangladesh government now allows Biharis born after 1971 to vote in elections to the legislature.

Bhutan

In 1991-92, Bhutan is said to have deported between 10,000 to 100,000 ethnic Nepalis (Lhotshampa). The actual number of refugees that were initially deported are debated by both sides. In March 2008, this population began a multiyear resettlement to third countries including the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and Australia. At present, the United States is working towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugees in the US as third country settlement programme.

Brunei

Brunei law provides positive discrimination in favor of ethnic Malay.

Myanmar

Ne Win's rise to power in 1962 and his persecution of "resident aliens" (immigrant groups not recognised as citizens of the Union of Burma) led to an exodus of some 300,000 Burmese Indians from discriminatory policies, particularly after wholesale nationalisation of private enterprise a few years later in 1964. Some Muslim refugees entered Bangladesh, but continued to suffer there as the Bangladeshi government provided no support as of 2007.

Cambodia

The Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. These included ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and Thai. In the late 1960s, an estimated 425,000 ethnic Chinese lived in Cambodia, but by 1984, as a result of Khmer Rouge genocide and emigration, only about 61,400 Chinese remained in the country. The Cham, a Muslim minority who are the descendants of migrants from the old state of Champa, were forced to adopt the Khmer language and customs. A Khmer Rouge order stated that henceforth "The Cham nation no longer exists on Kampuchean soil belonging to the Khmers" (U.N. Doc. A.34/569 at 9). Only about half of the Cham survived.

China

Several clashes between African and Chinese students have occurred since the arrival of Africans to Chinese universities in the 1960s. Many African students come to China on a scholarship through the government to study at a university. The African students were often perceived as threatening and not punctual. A well-documented incident in 1988 featured Chinese students rioting against African students studying in Nanjing. In 2007, police anti-drug crackdowns in Beijing's Sanlitun district were reported to target people from Africa as suspected criminals, though police officials denied targeting any group. Similar sentiment has emerged in Guangzhou, where a very large group of Africans have settled.

Anti-Japanese sentiment in China is an issue with old roots. Japan started off like other Western powers by annexing land from China towards the end of the Qing Dynasty. Dissatisfaction with the settlement and the Twenty-One Demands by the Japanese government led to a severe boycott of Japanese products in China. Bitterness in China persists over the atrocities of the Second Sino-Japanese War, such as the Nanjing Massacre and Japan's post-war actions. Today, textbook revisionism and censorship remain contentious issues.

Hong Kong

In a population of almost 7 million Hong Kong has gained a reputation as international city, while remaining predominantly Chinese. This multi-culturalism has raised issues of racial and sex discrimination, particularly among the 350,000 ethnic minorities such as Nepalese, Indians, Indonesians, Pakistanis and Filipinos, who have long established minority communities since the founding days of the former colony or have come to Hong Kong recently to work as domestic workers. For example, Filipino females are sometimes addressed by the degratory term "Bun Mui" and Filipino males "Bun Jai" (literally Filipino sister and Filipino son, respectively). In 2003, the number of complaints filed with the body handling discrimination issues, the Equal Opportunities Commission increased by 31 percent.

Discrimination against Mainland Chinese people runs rife in Hong Kong. Mainlanders were traditionally looked down upon as "bumpkins", or people of lower social standing, due to Hong Kong citizens typically being wealthier. However, in recent years, Mainland Chinese people have been able to catch up. In Hong Kong, Mainlanders are often referred to as "locusts" as they are seen as invaders who swarm the city and drain its resources, and are heavily discriminated against. As of February 2012, there have been stickers placed around the streets, in newspapers and on the Internet depicting Mainland "locusts" invading the city.

A race discrimination bill has been demanded by human rights groups for the last 10 years, and the government has been accused of putting the issue on the back burner.

Last December 3, 2006 was the first time a drafted bill was released onto the Legislative Council, and is expected to be passed before the end of 2008. However, the bill is criticized for being "too conservative". The exclusion of mainland Chinese migrants has also been a source of controversy, with the government claiming that they are not considered to be of a different race. Another issue of the bill has been of language instruction in schools.

India

The earliest rejection of discrimination was made as far back as the Hindu sacred text of Bhagavada Gita, which says that no person, no matter what, is barred from enlightenment. Even early Hindu texts such as the Rig Veda discourage the abuse of outcastes. The text reads, "Indra, you lifted up the outcast who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame." (Rg-Veda 2:13:12).

The varna system was equivalent to division of labour and a Shudra's son (the lowest varna) could become a Brahmin. But later this system became hereditary and a Shudra's son would remain a Shudra, and became to known as caste system. During the British Raj, racist views against Indians based on the systemic scientific racism practiced in Europe at the time were popularized. Views include dividing linguistic groups into ethnic "classes" (see Historical definitions of races in India). The first Prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, wrote

"We in India have known racialism in all its forms ever since the commencement of British rule. The idea of a master race is inherent in imperialism ... India as a nation and Indians as individuals were subjected to insult, humiliation and contemptuous treatment. The English were an imperial race, we were told, with the God-given right to govern us and keep us in subjection; if we protested we were reminded of the 'tiger qualities of an imperial race'.

"

Indonesia

A number of discriminatory laws against Chinese Indonesians were enacted by the government of Indonesia. In 1959, President Sukarno approved PP 10/1959 that forced Chinese Indonesians to close their businesses in rural areas and relocate into urban areas. Moreover, political pressures in the 1970s and 1980s restricted the role of the Chinese Indonesian in politics, academics, and the military. As a result, they were thereafter constrained professionally to becoming entrepreneurs and professional managers in trade, manufacturing, and banking. In the 1960s, following the failed alleged Communist coup attempt in 1965, there was a strong sentiment against the Chinese Indonesians who were accused of being Communist collaborators. In 1998, Indonesia riots over higher food prices and rumors of hoarding by merchants and shopkeepers often degenerated into anti-Chinese attacks. There were also racism against religion & believe wide across the country, especially between Muslims and Christians.

Amnesty International has estimated more than 100,000 Papuans, one-sixth of the population, have died as a result of violence against West Papuans, while others had previously specified much higher death tolls. The 1990s saw Indonesia accelerate its Transmigration program, under which hundreds of thousands of Javanese and Sumatran migrants were resettled to Papua over a ten-year period, The Indonesian government saw this as the economical improvement and also population density improvement for Indonesia. Critics suspect that the Transmigration program's purpose is to tip the balance of the province's population from the heavily Melanesian Papuans toward western Indonesians, thus further consolidating Indonesian control.

Iran

As late as August 2010, UN's anti-racism panel found The Islamic republic of Iran discriminating and practicing wide racism against Arabs, Kurds, Baluch, other ethnic minorities. The United Nations panel said "Arabs, Kurds and other minorities in Iran face discrimination because of their ethnicity." The U.N. urged Iran to tackle racism on Arab, Azeri, Balochi, Kurdish communities and some communities of non-citizens.

Israel

Organizations such as Amnesty International, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, and the United States Department of State have published reports documenting racial discrimination in Israel.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI) published reports documenting racism in Israel, and the 2007 report suggested that racism in the country was increasing. One analysis of the report summarized it: "Over two-thirds Israeli teen believe Arabs to be less intelligent, uncultured and violent. Over a third of Israeli teens fear Arabs all together....The report becomes even grimmer, citing the ACRI's racism poll, taken in March 2007, in which 50% of Israelis taking part said they would not live in the same building as Arabs, will not befriend, or let their children befriend Arabs and would not let Arabs into their homes." The 2008 report from ACRI says the trend of increasing racism is continuing.

Japan

In 2005, a United Nations report expressed concerns about racism in Japan and that government recognition of the depth of the problem was not total. The author of the report, Doudou Diène (Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights), concluded after a nine-day investigation that racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan primarily affects three groups: national minorities, Latin Americans of Japanese descent, mainly Japanese Brazilians, and foreigners from "poor" countries.

Japan accepted just 16 refugees in 1999, while the United States took in 85,010 for resettlement, according to the UNHCR. New Zealand, which is 30 times smaller than Japan, accepted 1,140 refugees in 1999. Just 305 persons were recognized as refugees by Japan from 1981, when Japan ratified the U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, to 2002. Former Prime Minister Taro Aso called Japan a "one race" nation.

Ainu people are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō, northern Honshū, the Kuril Islands, much of Sakhalin, and the southernmost third of the Kamchatka peninsula. As Japanese settlement expanded, the Ainu were pushed northward, until by the Meiji period they were confined by the government to a small area in Hokkaidō, in a manner similar to the placing of American Indians on reservations.

Writers such as Debito Arudou (a Caucasian, born and raised in the U.S. and a naturalized Japanese citizen) have written extensively on racial discrimination they and others have experienced in Japan.

Korea

Koreans tend to equate nationality or citizenship with membership in a single, homogeneous ethnic group or "race" (minjok, in Korean). Discrimination and ostracism of biracial children is ubiquitous in Korean society. A common language and culture also are viewed as important elements in Korean identity. Both North Korea and South Korea are among the world's most ethnically homogeneous nations. South Korean schools have been criticized for hiring only white teachers who apply to teach English, because Koreans regard fair skin color as representative of "American" or "English"-ness.

South Korea has only granted refugee status to 60 people in its entire history. In comparison, South Africa has accepted over 35,000 refugees.

Malaysia

Malaysia is a multi–ethnic country, with Malays making up the majority—close to 52% of the 28 million population. About 30% of the population are Chinese Malaysians (Malaysians of Chinese descent) and Indian Malaysians (Malaysians of Indian descent) comprise about 10% of the population.

Pakistan

A strong anti-Bengali Pakistani regime during the Bangladesh Liberation War were strongly motivated by anti-Bengali racism within the establishment, especially against the Bengali Hindu minority. Discrimination in Pakistan now is mainly based on religion, social status and gender.

Philippines

In the Philippines, preferential treatment were given to Spaniards and Spanish Mestizos during the Spanish colonization of the country. After 1898, control of the islands passed on to the new American overlords, who, together with a new generation of Amerasians, form one of the country's social elite. Up to the present-day, descendants of White colonizers of the country still obtain a positive treatment, while in the entertainment industry, actors/actresses are mostly of part-White descent.

Similarly, the status of Filipinos of Chinese descent varied throughout the colonial powers. It is accepted generally, though, that repressive treatment toward the Chinese were practised by both Filipinos and Spaniards and/or Japanese immigrants and Americans during the colonial period. After independence on 1946, the Chinese quickly assumed some of the top posts in finance and business. There were several setbacks against the Chinese, however, such as immigration policies deemed unfair toward migrants from China during President Ramon Magsaysay's term, as well as the limiting of hours for studying Chinese subjects in Chinese schools throughout the country, as promulgated by President Ferdinand Marcos. In addition, as recent as 1992 and 1998, there were several anti-Chinese protests led by Armando Ducat, a Filipino businessman, who claimed that the Chinese rose to the top economic ladder through bribery and extortion. This has not been proven, however. To this day, there are still anti-Chinese sentiments among a small minority of the Philippine population, as manifested in online forums and occasional public demonstrations.

The Philippines is considered a multi-ethnic country, although the majority of the population are of Austronesian origin, with small but economically important minorities of Chinese, White American, and Spanish descent. The country is also home to an increasing number of immigrants from South Korea, India, Indonesia, Australia, the United Kingdom, and other countries.

Russia

The term "pogrom" became commonly used in English after a large-scale wave of anti-Jewish riots swept through south-western Czarist Russia in 1881–1884. A much bloodier wave of pogroms broke out in 1903–1906, leaving an estimated 2,000 Jews dead. By the beginning of the 20th century, most European Jews lived in the so-called Pale of Settlement, the Western frontier of the Russian Empire consisting generally of the modern-day countries of Poland, Lithuania, Belarus and neighboring regions. Many pogroms accompanied the Revolution of 1917 and the ensuing Russian Civil War, an estimated 70,000 to 250,000 civilian Jews were killed in the atrocities throughout the former Russian Empire; the number of Jewish orphans exceeded 300,000.

Racism inside Russia is quite a modern post-USSR phenomenon that has been steadily growing in the past decade. In the 2000s, neo-Nazi groups inside Russia have risen to include as many as tens of thousands of people. Racism against both the Russian citizens (peoples of the Caucasus, indigenous peoples of Siberia and Russian Far East, etc.) and non-Russian citizens of Africans, Central Asians, East Asians (Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.) and even Europeans (Ukrainians, etc.) is an ever-increasing problem.

A Pew Global opinion poll showed that 25% of Russians had an unfavorable view of Jews. Racism towards Central Asians is said to be widespread.

Singapore

Since independence, Singapore has declared itself to be a multi-cultural society, and it is successful in being so to a large extent. One common declaration of anti-racism and the embracing of all races and religions is seen in the Singapore National Pledge. Racial Harmony Day is celebrated in Singapore to mark the progress made since the 1964 race riots in Singapore. However, there were still some hints of racism in this usually racially-harmonious society. These issues relate to intermarriage of different ethnic groups and the social stigma attached to these practices.

A collective cultural tendency; that is a tendency to focus on group dynamics more at a societal and individual level, this in turn leads to an increased emphasis on being part of the 'in' group and not part of the 'other'. Many have on the identity document an ethnic classification of Other, although there have been recent reforms in 2011 that allows for double-barrel ethnic identification like "Indian Chinese" or "Chinese Indian" for individuals of mixed heritage.

It is still Chinese-Malay animosity that appears to pose the biggest threat in spite of general inter-racial tolerance. The potential dangers become stark under the threat of possible Jemaah Islamiah bombings in Singapore, which could result, it is feared, in some kind of a backlash against innocent Malay Muslims. The government has put in place plans involving religious and community leaders of all races that will mitigate race violence if the bombs do go off. A Racial Harmony Day is held every year. Schools and Housing Development Board housing estates enforce ethnic quotas based on the race populations to prevent racial enclaves. The system ensures the majority Chinese live with a certain ratio of Malays and Indians and vice-versa. As a result, children grow up with at least some racial mixing both at school and their residential blocks. For many years, community leaders have been organising cross-visits to celebrate each other's cultural and religious festivals.

Nonetheless, there were an insignificant number young bloggers and commentators who have been charged under the Sedition Act for making disparaging remarks about race and religion. One of the government's approaches to handle such 'hate speech' is to deal with expressions of extreme racism, e.g. on web sites, by way of the Sedition Act. This, however, curtails freedom of speech in Singapore.

Anti-foreigner sentiments have recently shot up in Singapore with house-owners and landlords refusing to rent properties to people from India and People's Republic of China.

Taiwan

The Nationality Law of the Republic of China has been criticized for its methods of determining which immigrants get citizenship.

Vietnam

The Sino-Vietnamese War resulted in the discrimination and consequent migration of Vietnam's ethnic Chinese. Many of these people fled as "boat people". In 1978-79, some 450,000 ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees (many officially encouraged and assisted) or were expelled across the land border with China.

See also

• Racism by country

References

2. Citizens of Nowhere: The Stateless Biharis of Bangladesh - Refugees International 2006 report
3. NEPAL-BHUTAN: Bhutan questions identity of 107,000 refugees in Nepal
4. Bhaumik, Subir (November 7, 2007). "Bhutan refugees are 'intimidated'". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
5. Country profile: Brunei, BBC NEWS
6. Martin Smith (1991). Burma - Insurgency and the Politics of Ethnicity. London,New Jersey: Zed Books. pp. 43–44, 98, 56–57, 176.
7. "Burma: Asians v. Asians". Time Magazine. 17 July 1964. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
8. Dummett, Mark (29 September 2007). "Burmese exiles in desperate conditions". BBC News. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
9. Genocide - Cambodia
10. The Cambodian Genocide and International Law
11. Cambodia the Chinese
12. New York Times
13. New York Times article by Nicholas Kristof
14. Beijing Newspeak :: Sanlitun saga update: anti-drug operation uncovers no drugs
17. "Dogs and locusts". The Economist. 2012-02-04.
18. "Different versions of Hong Kong's locust ads appear on Internet". Retrieved 16 July 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
20. 4.7. INDRA AND SHIVA
22. From Discovery of India by Jawaharlal Nehru, reproduced from "History : Modern India" (p108) by S.N. Sen, New Age Publishers, ISBN 81-224-1774-4.
23. International Herald Tribune: Q&A / Juwono Sudarsono, Defense Official : Racism in Indonesia Undercuts Unity
25. Report claims secret genocide in Indonesia - University of Sydney
26. West Papua Support
27. West Papua - Transmigration
28. UN anti-racism panel finds Iran discriminating against Arabs, Kurds, other minorities. The Afghan community in Iran also faces frequent racism by Iranian citizens and authorities. August 27, 2010. Associated Press, Fox
29. The U.N. urged Iran to tackle racism | Reuters August 27, 2010. http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE67Q2K520100827
30. "Israel and the occupied territories". State.gov. 2005-02-28. Retrieved 2010-07-22.
31. "Israeli anti-Arab racism 'rises'", BBC, 10 Dec 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7136068.stm
32. Synopsis of the report, from "Racism in Israel on the rise", Aviram Zino, Ynet News, 12 Aug 2007, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3480345,00.html
33. "Reflections on October 2000 - Eight years later, discrimination and racism against Israel's Arab citizens have only increased" - news release from ACRI, http://www.acri.org.il/eng/story.aspx?id=556
34. "Press Conference by Mr Doudou Diène, Special Rapporteur of the Commission on Human Rights". Retrieved 2007-01-05.
35. "Japan racism 'deep and profound". BBC News (2005-07-11). Retrieved on 2007-01-05.
36. "'Overcoming "Marginalization" and "Invisibility"', International Movement against all forms of Discrimination and Racism" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-12-14. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
37. Japan's refugee policy
38. Questioning Japan's 'Closed Country' Policy on Refugees
39. Aso says Japan is nation of 'one race'
40. Japan - Ainu
41. NPR : Ethnic Bias Seen in South Korea Teacher Hiring
42. http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2007/08/20/korea-needs-open-its-doors
43. Chinese in Malaysia
44. O'Leary, Brendan; Thomas M. Callaghy; Ian S. Lustick (2004) . Right-Sizing the State: The Politics of Moving Borders P179 (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-924490-1. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
45. Religious discrimination in Pakistan
46. Classism in Pakistan
47. Gender discrimination in Pakistan
48. Anti-Semitism in modern Europe
49. Hilary L Rubinstein, Daniel C Cohn-Sherbok, Abraham J Edelheit, William D Rubinstein, The Jews in the Modern World, Oxford University Press, 2002.
50. Badkhen, Anna (2005-08-14). The San Francisco Chronicle http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/14/MNGUSE7N2D1.DTL. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
52. http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=795
53. "No Indians Please: House Owners advertise in Singapore". IANS. news.biharprabha.com. Retrieved 2 May 2014.
54. Not allowed to be Taiwanese
55. Vietnamese, Kevin Griffin

• Articles needing cleanup from February 2008
• Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field from February 2008
• Misplaced Pages pages needing cleanup from February 2008
• Racism by region
• Racism in Asia