Joshua Castellino, Irwin Loy, Matthew Naumann, Marusca Perazzi And
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Asia and Oceania Joshua Castellino, Irwin Loy, AsiaMatthew Naumann, Maruscaand Perazzi Oceaniaand Jacqui Zalcberg Michael Caster, Shikha Dilawri, Nicole Girard, Hanna Hindstrom, Matthew Naumann and Jacqui Zalcberg .) rench Polynesia (FR F ARCTIC OCEAN .) ANDS allis and utuna (FR W F AND .) FIJI ISL ZEAL ANDS NEW RUSSIA OMON ISL New Caledonia (FR SOL Bougainville JAPAN KAZAKHSTAN NORTH NEW KOREA MONGOLICIFIC A UZBEKISTAN INEA SOUTH APUA OCEAN P TURKMENISTAN KOREA GU ALIA KYRGYZSTAN PA TAJIKISTAN PACIFIC E Jammu and AUSTR AFGHANIS- Kashmir CHINA TAN OCEAN PAKISTAN TIBET TAIWAN NEPAL TIMOR-LEST N BHUTAN PA BANGLADESH Hong Kong JA Sulawesi AN INDIA BURMA LAOS PHILIPPINES AIW PHILIPPINES T ng OREA THAILAND VIETNAM OREA SOUTH K Ko NORTH K CAMBODIA Andaman Borneo va BRUNEI and Hong A Ja INDONESIA Nicobar BRUNEI SIA VIETNAM Bougainville SRI LANKA Islands AY PAPUA NEW MALAYSIA SOLOMON ISLANDS MALDIVES GUINEA SINGAPORE Borneo SulawesiMAL Wallis and CAMBODI OS SINGAPORE A AND Futuna (FR.) CHINA Sumatra LA INDONESIA TIMOR-LESTSumatra E FIJI ISLANDS French Polynesia (FR THAIL .) Java MONGOLI AN s BURMA New Caledonia (FR.) ADESH A INDIAN BHUT Andaman and Nicobar Island OCEAN AUSTRALIA BANGL TIBET AL AN RUSSI OCEAN NEP ARCTIC ANKA A OCEAN YZST INDIAN AN AN INDI SRI L YRG Jammu and Kashmir K AN NEW ZEALAND AJIKIST AN T AN KAZAKHST MALDIVES N AKIST UZBEKIST P AFGHANIS- TA TURKMENIST Central Asia has been mixed. In the main, rural– urban migration has occurred in recent decades Central among majority ethnic populations. This was partly a result of previous Soviet policies that had made it difficult for rural residents to move to Asia cities, while encouraging or in some cases forcing migration of specialists to Central Asia from Matthew Naumann more industrialized parts of the Soviet Union. This ensured that in many cities residents who he year 2014 in Central Asia was were ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Germans and overshadowed by the conflict in Jews – locally known as ‘European ethnicities’ T Ukraine, as well as the economic – were the majority, working as administrators, downturn caused to the regional economy by technical specialists and factory workers, while international sanctions on Russia and the sharp rural areas were predominantly inhabited by the falls in the price of oil. Besides contributing to a titular ethnicity. slowdown in the region’s economies, the conflict Many of these ‘Europeans’ emigrated from also had a significant geopolitical impact across Central Asia in the last years of the Soviet the region as the implications of the Russian Union and in the decades since independence. Federation’s support for ethnic Russians and Urbanization has subsequently been shaped Russian speakers were absorbed. An April 2014 by incomers replacing those who had left the offer by President Vladimir Putin for any fluent urban workforce, driven also by the chronic Russian speaker in the former Soviet Union to become a Russian citizen if they renounced their current citizenship reportedly led to a surge in Below: A group of Uyghur youth pick interest among minority ethnic groups. mulberries near the Baraholka bazaar in The effect of urbanization on minorities in Kazakhstan. Panos/Carolyn Drake 138 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2015 and endemic poverty that affected many rural sidelined from political decision making. Their areas, particularly in the 1990s. However, some representation at a senior level in politics cities had large ethnic minority populations reportedly remains limited, though Vladimir who were historical residents of the area and did Shkolnik, an ethnic Russian, was reappointed not emigrate at the end of Soviet rule. These as energy minister in August 2014 and their included Osh, Jalalabad and Uzgen in Kyrgyzstan share of seats in Kazakhstan’s lower legislative (with large ethnic Uzbek populations), as well chamber, the Mazhilis, is roughly proportional as Samarkand and Bukhara in Uzbekistan (with to their demographic. This is not necessarily large numbers of ethnic Tajiks). the case for many of Kazakhstan’s non-Russian Resentment against minorities is sometimes minorities, who together make up more than 13 fuelled by registration requirements that are per cent of the population. The UN Committee often still in place in urban areas. These can for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination exclude many city residents from essential public (CERD) had expressed concern earlier in the services and social security, creating a new year about the under-representation of non- group of socially marginalized people who face Kazakh ethnic groups in general in political life discrimination and are vulnerable to harassment and the civil service. One notable exception is by the authorities. In some cases, internal Karim Massimov, an ethnic Uyghur, who was migrants from majority groups may resent the reappointed as prime minister in April 2014. fact that minorities in urban areas, particularly However, some analysts have suggested that his those well established in larger towns and cities, appointment is due in part due to the fact that, have better access to resources such as land or as a member of an ethnic minority, he is not housing – a major source of ethnic tension in seen as a potential successor to the president and certain countries, such as Kyrgyzstan. therefore does not threaten the balance of power among Kazakhstan’s elite. Kazakhstan Kazakhstan has not suffered the large-scale Kazakhstan has a variety of ethnic minorities, ethnic violence that affected its neighbour including Uzbeks (2.9 per cent), Ukrainians Kyrgyzstan, most notably in 2010. Nevertheless, (2.1 per cent), Uyghurs (1.4 per cent) and two people were hospitalized and four detained Tatars (1.3 per cent). The largest of these is the by police after clashes on 27 August in ethnic Russian minority, who make up almost a Qaramurat, a southern village where the majority quarter (23.7 per cent) of the population. Under of residents are ethnic Uzbeks. A group of ethnic Kazakhstan’s Constitution, while Kazakh is the Kazakhs from a nearby village reportedly stormed state language, Russian has equal official status the community, attacking residents and breaking for all levels of administrative and institutional into shops. The interior minister stated that the purposes. However, nationalist groups are now incident was not ethnicity-related, but a news pushing for a more aggressive promotion of blackout in the area, including the blocking of the Kazakh language. Several municipalities mobile phone connections, indicated that the have even taken down Russian-language public authorities feared a possible escalation. A second signs or refused to provide Russian translations incident occurred in another village in southern for official communications, such as court Kazakhstan on 5 February 2015, between Kazakh proceedings. This concern was raised with the and Tajik communities, after the alleged murder Organization for Security and Co-operation of a Kazakh man by a Tajik man in a dispute in Europe’s High Commissioner for National over a greenhouse. Severe security and internet Minorities in June 2014. However, in August restrictions were also imposed following this 2014 President Nursultan Nazarbaev told state incident. broadcaster Khabar Television that he wanted Kazakhstan is continuing its attempts to bring to ensure that any policies promoting the all publicly accessible mosques under the control Kazakh language remained moderate to avoid of the state-backed Muslim Board, thereby encouraging the divisions evident in Ukraine. limiting worshippers’ right to exist as a religious There have been reports of Russians feeling community and exercise their freedom of religion State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 139 and Indigenous Peoples 2015 or belief. All other Muslim communities and Below: Uzbek woman and child in a village in organizations – including Ahmadi Muslim Kyrgystan, 2014. Jonny Duncan congregations as well as mosques catering to specific ethnic communities such as Azerbaijanis, However, there has been limited political Chechens or Uyghurs – are banned. Permission opposition to the Oralman project as it has been to exist is gained via state registration. However, seen as a part of the nation-building process for reportedly even religious communities who try independent Kazakhstan. to register or have registered are in some cases prevented by officials from exercising their Kyrgyzstan freedom of religion or belief. According to the About a quarter of Kyrgyzstan’s 5.6 million NGO Forum 18, by July 12 people had been inhabitants are members of minority ethnic jailed and 45 fined in relation to state restrictions groups. Ethnic Uzbeks make up the most on freedom of worship. These have been used sizeable minority, at roughly 14 per cent of the repeatedly against individuals who have refused population, and primarily live in the southern to fall in line with the government’s policies. In regions of Osh and Jalalabad. The second largest January 2015, Forum 18 reported the case of one ethnic minority is Russians at 8 per cent of the Baptist man in his thirties who, having already population, primarily in the capital Bishkek, and received three fines and a five-day sentence over the surrounding area in the north. Dungans (Han the previous two years, now faced the prospect of Muslims known as Hui in China), Meskhetian his garage being seized. Turks, Tajiks and Uyghurs each make up around Kazakhstan is an increasingly urbanized society, with more than half (55 per cent) of residents now based in urban areas. It has large minority urban populations, particularly ethnic Russians, and Russian is still commonly used as a lingua franca in most cities outside the south and west, including among many ethnic Kazakhs. All road infrastructure, public transport facilities, streets, avenues and other facilities in urban areas are legally required to be marked in both Russian and Kazakh. Kazakhstan’s policy of attracting Oralmans, or ethnic Kazakhs, to immigrate from outside the country has in part been intended to replace the outflow of non-Kazakhs from the country’s cities since independence.