Racism in Asia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bangladesh

After the 1971 Indo-Pak 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

Bhutan

Bhutan , officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked state in South Asia, located at the eastern end of the Himalayas and bordered to the south, east and west by the Republic of India and to the north by the People's Republic of China...

deported roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepalis (Lhotshampa

Lhotshampa

Lhotshampa, or Lhotsampa, means "southerners" in Dzongkha, the national language of Bhutan. The term refers to the heterogeneous ethnic Nepalese population of Bhutan.-History:...

). 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

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

is working towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugee

Refugee

A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

s in the US as third country settlement programme.

Brunei

Brunei, is a monarchy

Monarchy

A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...

and a very conservative Islamic country. Racism is widespread in Brunei (although it is usually a less sensitive issue in the country), especially towards people of Indian origin who are referred to as 'Kalings' (a variation of Keling

Keling

Keling is a word used to describe people originating from the Indian subcontinent by native Malaysians and Indonesians. It is now generally considered offensive by majority of Indians....

in nearby Malaysia and Singapore). People of other ethnicities are also subject to a range of discriminatory laws that give preference to ethnic Malays with regard to health, education and business ownership. People who are permanent residents of Brunei (referred to as 'pink ic holders') are officially regarded as stateless and are not recognised by the government. This could be considered a form of racism as these residents are more likely to be of Chinese

Ethnic Chinese in Brunei

Ethnic Chinese in Brunei form roughly 15% of Brunei's population. As of 1986, it was estimated that over 90% were unable to obtain Bruneian citizenship despite generations of residence in the country....

ethnicity and face a multitude of problems when they attempt to enter a foreign country.

Burma

Ne Win's

Ne Win

Ne Win was Burmese a politician and military commander. He was Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974 and also head of state from 1962 to 1981...

rise to power in 1962 and his relentless 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

Burmese Indians

Burmese Indians are a group of people of Indian subcontinental ethnicity who live in Myanmar . While Indians have lived in Burma for many centuries, most of the ancestors of the current Burmese Indian community emigrated to Burma from the start of British rule in the mid 19th century to the...

from racial discrimination and particularly after wholesale nationalisation of private enterprise a few years later in 1964.

In 1978, a military operation was conducted against the Rohingya

Rohingya people

The Rohingya is a predominantly Muslim ethnic group of disputed origin who live in Arakan State, western Burma. The Rohingya population is mostly concentrated to the cities of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Akyab, Rathedaung and Kyauktaw.-Etymology:...

Muslims in Arakan

Rakhine State

Rakhine State is a Burmese state. Situated on the western coast, it is bordered by Chin State in the north, Magway Region, Bago Region and Ayeyarwady Region in the east, the Bay of Bengal to the west, and the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh to the northwest. It is located approximately between...

, called the King Dragon operation

King Dragon operation in Arakan

The King Dragon Operation, or Naga Min Sitsin Yae, was a large scale military operation in Arakan, Burma carried out during the rule of General Ne Win. The operation focused on rooting out Mujahid rebels in the area. who had been fighting for an Islamic state in Northern Rakhine state. However,...

, causing 300,000 refugee

Refugee

s to flee to neighboring Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

. In 1991, following a crackdown on Rohingyas, 250,000 refugees took shelter in the Cox's Bazar

Cox's Bazar

Cox's Bazar is a town, a fishing port and district headquarters in Bangladesh. It is known for its wide sandy beach which is the world's longest natural sandy sea beach. It is an unbroken 125 km sandy sea beach with a gentle slope. It is located 150 km south of Chittagong. Cox’s Bazar...

district of neighbouring Bangladesh. Despite earlier efforts by the UN, the vast majority of Rohingya refugees have remained in Bangladesh, unable to return because of the regime in Burma. They now face problems in Bangladesh where they do not receive support from the government.

Muslims are stereotyped in the society as "cattle killers" (referring to the cattle sacrifice festival of Eid Al Adha in Islam).

The racist slur of "Kala" ('color' which was developed in colonial era from British people referring to Indian soldier brought from India to Burma. Later Burmese people kept referring to Indian people without understanding the English term. So Burmese people mistakenly developed their own term of referring British as "Kala Phyu" means 'color white' since at that time, British people came to Burma from India where they had well colonized ahead. However, to some degree, there is some negative sense associated with the term "Kala" while using it.) used against perceived "Indians" has especially negative connotations when referring to Burmese Muslims

Persecution of Muslims in Burma

-Muslims in Burmese history :The first Muslim recorded in Burmese historyThe first Muslim documented in Burmese history was Byat Wi during the reign of Mon, a Thaton King, circa 1050 AD...

.

Note that overwhelmingly majority of people do not know where "Kala" term came from. So this term was associated with many objects associated with British (e.g. "Kala Htine" directly means 'color + sit' which referred to a chair since The furniture 'chair' was not used in Burma before colonized by British. Only bench was used.)

Cambodia

The Khmer Rouge

Khmer Rouge

The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

regime in Cambodia

Cambodia

Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

disproportionately targeted ethnic minority groups. These included ethnic Chinese

Overseas Chinese

Overseas Chinese are people of Chinese birth or descent who live outside the Greater China Area . People of partial Chinese ancestry living outside the Greater China Area may also consider themselves Overseas Chinese....

, Vietnamese

Vietnamese people

The Vietnamese people are an ethnic group originating from present-day northern Vietnam and southern China. They are the majority ethnic group of Vietnam, comprising 86% of the population as of the 1999 census, and are officially known as Kinh to distinguish them from other ethnic groups in Vietnam...

and Thai

Thai people

The Thai people, or Siamese, are the main ethnic group of Thailand and are part of the larger Tai ethnolinguistic peoples found in Thailand and adjacent countries in Southeast Asia as well as southern China. Their language is the Thai language, which is classified as part of the Kradai family of...

. In the late 1960s, an estimated 425,000 ethnic Chinese lived in Cambodia, but by 1984, as a result of Khmer Rouge genocide

Genocide

Genocide is defined as "the deliberate and systematic destruction, in whole or in part, of an ethnic, racial, religious, or national group", though what constitutes enough of a "part" to qualify as genocide has been subject to much debate by legal scholars...

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

Champa

The kingdom of Champa was an Indianized kingdom that controlled what is now southern and central Vietnam from approximately the 7th century through to 1832.The Cham people are remnants...

, were forced to adopt the Khmer

Khmer people

Khmer people are the predominant ethnic group in Cambodia, accounting for approximately 90% of the 14.8 million people in the country. They speak the Khmer language, which is part of the larger Mon–Khmer language family found throughout Southeast Asia...

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

For decades some African students in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

have complained of hostility and prejudice. Their complaints regarding their treatment were largely ignored until 1988-9, when "students rose up

Nanjing anti-African protests

The Nanjing Anti-African protests were mass demonstrations and riots against African students in Nanjing, China, which lasted from December 1988, to the following January.-Background:...

in protest against what they called 'Chinese apartheid'". African officials, who had until then ignored the problem, took notice of the issue. The Organization of African Unity issued an official protest, and the organization's chairman, Mali

Mali

Mali , officially the Republic of Mali , is a landlocked country in Western Africa. Mali borders Algeria on the north, Niger on the east, Burkina Faso and the Côte d'Ivoire on the south, Guinea on the south-west, and Senegal and Mauritania on the west. Its size is just over 1,240,000 km² with...

's president Moussa Traoré

Moussa Traoré

General Moussa Traoré is a Malian soldier and politician. As a Lieutenant, he led the military ouster of President Modibo Keïta in 1968. Thereafter he served as Head of State from 1968-1979, and President of Mali from 1979 to 1991, when he was overthrown by popular protests and military coup...

, went on a fact-finding mission to China. The issue was so severe that, according to a Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

1989 Third World Report titled "'Chinese apartheid' threatens links with Africa", "'Chinese apartheid', as the African students call it, could threaten Beijing's entire relationship with the continent."
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

Second Sino-Japanese War

The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...

, such as the Nanjing Massacre and Japan's post-war actions. Today, textbook revisionism and censorship

Japanese history textbook controversies

Japanese history textbook controversies refers to controversial content in government-approved history textbooks used in the secondary education of Japan...

remain contentious issues.

Hong Kong

In a population of almost 7 million http://www.censtatd.gov.hk/press_release/press_releases_on_statistics/index.jsp?sID=1752&sSUBID=7113&subjectID=&charsetID=&displayMode=D Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

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 male Filipino "Bun Jai" (literally, Filipino girl and Filipino boy, respectively). In 2003, the number of complaints filed with the body handling discrimination issues, the Equal Opportunities Commission http://www.eoc.org.hk/eoc/GraphicsFolder/default.aspx was up by 31 percent.

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 to be "too conservative" http://www.ahrchk.net/ahrc-in-news/mainfile.php/2004ahrcinnews/222/. 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 spiritually, 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

Indra

' or is the King of the demi-gods or Devas and Lord of Heaven or Svargaloka in Hindu mythology. He is also the God of War, Storms, and Rainfall.Indra is one of the chief deities in the Rigveda...

, you lifted up the outcast who was oppressed, you glorified the blind and the lame." (Rg-Veda 2:13:12). The caste system was equivalent to division of labour and a Shudra

Shudra

Shudra is the fourth Varna, as prescribed in the Purusha Sukta of the Rig veda, which constitutes society into four varnas or Chaturvarna. The other three varnas are Brahmans - priests, Kshatriya - those with governing functions, Vaishya - agriculturalists, cattle rearers and traders...

's son (the lowest caste) could become a Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

. But later this system became hereditary and a Shudra's son would remain a Shudra.
During the British Raj

British Raj

British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...

, racist views against Indians based on the systemic scientific racism

Scientific racism

Scientific racism is the use of scientific techniques and hypotheses to sanction the belief in racial superiority or racism.This is not the same as using scientific findings and the scientific method to investigate differences among the humans and argue that there are races...

practiced in Europe at the time were popularized. Views include dividing linguistic groups into ethnic "classes" (see Historical definitions of races in India

Historical definitions of races in India

Various attempts have been made, under the British Raj and since, to classify the population of India according to a racial typology. After the independence, in pursuance of the Government's policy to discourage community distinctions based on race, the 1951 Census of India did away with racial...

),http://books.google.com/books?id=dhbwDFfE9J8C&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=indophobia&source=web&ots=G3Y5MxDQde&sig=yU2htlm28bCIPV_8AnUZRCQ9X70.The first Prime minister of India, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...

, wrote
"

It is claimed by some activists http://www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/what/jpc/echoes/echoes-17-04.html that casteism practised in India is a form of racism, but this is debated by those who believe that casteism has nothing to do with physical attributes, unlike racism. At the UN world conference on racism (August 31 - September 7, 2001) the Indian Government opposed the discussion of caste in the conference, saying that "the caste issue is not the same as racism" http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/1495052.stm.

Allegations that caste amounts to race were addressed and rejected by B.R. Ambedkar, an advocate for Dalit rights and critic of untouchability. He wrote that "The Brahmin

Brahmin

Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...

of Punjab

Punjab region

The Punjab , also spelled Panjab |water]]s"), is a geographical region straddling the border between Pakistan and India which includes Punjab province in Pakistan and the states of the Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh and some northern parts of the National Capital Territory of Delhi...

is racially of the same stock as the Chamar (Dalit

Dalit

Dalit is a designation for a group of people traditionally regarded as Untouchable. Dalits are a mixed population, consisting of numerous castes from all over South Asia; they speak a variety of languages and practice a multitude of religions...

) of Punjab, and that the "Caste system does not demarcate racial division. Caste system is a social division of people of the same race",

Such allegations have also been rejected by many sociologists such as Andre Béteille

Andre Béteille

Andre Béteille is one of India's leading sociologists and writers. He is particularly well known for his studies of the caste system in South India...

, who writes that treating caste as a form of racism is "politically mischievous" and worse, "scientifically nonsense" since there is no discernible difference in the racial characteristics between Brahmins and Scheduled Castes. He writes that "Every social group cannot be regarded as a race simply because we want to protect it against prejudice and discrimination".
In addition, the view of the caste system as "static and unchanging" (which would indicate a form of racial discrimination) has been disputed by many scholars. Sociologists describe how the perception of the caste system as a static and textual stratification has given way to the perception of the caste system as a more processual, empirical and contextual stratification. Others have applied theoretical models to explain mobility and flexibility in the caste system in India. According to these scholars, groups of lower-caste individuals could seek to elevate the status of their caste by attempting to emulate the practices of higher castes.

Sociologist M. N. Srinivas

M. N. Srinivas

Mysore Narasimhachar Srinivas was an Indian sociologist. He is mostly known for his work on caste and caste systems, social stratification, Sanskritisation and Westernisation in southern India and the concept of 'Dominant Caste'.- Career :...

has also debated the question of rigidity in Caste. For details see sanskritization.

Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

i-American sociologist Ayesha Jalal

Ayesha Jalal

Ayesha Jalal is a Pakistani-American sociologist and historian. She is a professor of history at Tufts University and a 1998 MacArthur Fellow. The bulk of her work deals with the creation of Muslim identities in modern South Asia....

also rejects these allegations. In her book, "Democracy and Authoritarianism in South Asia

South Asia

South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...

", she writes that "As for Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

, the hierarchical principles of the Brahmanical social order have always been contested from within Hindu society, suggesting that equality has been and continues to be both valued and practiced."

Historically, many Hindu reform movements

Hindu reform movements

Several contemporary groups, collectively termed Hindu reform movements, strive to introduce regeneration and reform to Hinduism. Although these movements are very individual in their exact philosophies they generally stress the spiritual, secular and logical and scientific aspects of the Vedic...

have actively combated casteism and the practice of untouchability (segregation of the lower castes). In order to curb the practice of caste-based discrimination, numerous laws, including constitutional laws

Constitution of India

The Constitution of India is the supreme law of India. It lays down the framework defining fundamental political principles, establishes the structure, procedures, powers, and duties of government institutions, and sets out fundamental rights, directive principles, and the duties of citizens...

, have been passed in India outlawing casteist discrimination.Special quotas

Reservation in India

Reservation in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well being of socially backward and underrepresented communities of citizens in India. There are laws in place, wherein a certain percentage of total available slots in Jobs and Education are set aside for people from...

are provided to the lower castes in access to schools and jobs. Lower caste political parties have achieved increasing prominence in the Indian political landscape since India's independence. The public practice of casteism has diminished significantly among the large urban and cosmopolitan classes in India. Nonetheless, the fight to end casteism is an uphill struggle, especially in rural areas where education and modernity are scarce, and numerous hate crimes have taken place in India that have been attributed to Casteism.

India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

's treatment of its lower-class Dalits has been described by UNESCO

UNESCO

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...

as "India's hidden apartheid". According to Rajeev Dhavan, of India's leading English-language newspaper The Hindu
The Hindu
The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

, "casteism is India's apartheid which will continue in its most vicious and persistent forms for decades to come."
In the India

India

n caste system, a Dalit

Dalit

, often called an untouchable, is a person who lay outside the Indian Caste System. Historically, Hindu Dalits were forbidden to worship in temples and Muslim Dalits forbidden in mosques http://www.indianexpress.com/story/12109.html. Dalits who converted to Christianity are frequently discriminated against by upper-caste Catholic priests and nuns.http://indianhope.free.fr/site_eng/article_5.php3
The majority of rural Dalits still live in segregation

Racial segregation

Racial segregation is the separation of humans into racial groups in daily life. It may apply to activities such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a public toilet, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home...

and experience atrocities to the scale of 110,000 registered cases a year according to 2005 statistics.

However, such allegations of apartheid are regarded by academic sociologists as a political epithet, since apartheid implies state sponsored discrimination, and no such thing exists in India. Anti-dalit prejudice and discrimination is a social malaise that exists primarily in rural areas, where small societies can track the caste lineage of individuals and discriminate accordingly. Sociologists Kevin Reilly, Stephen Kaufman, Angela Bodino, while being critical of casteism, conclude that modern India does not practice any "apartheid" since there is no state sanctioned discrimination. They write that Caste

Caste

Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...

ism in India is presently "not apartheid. In fact, untouchables, as well as tribal people and members of the lowest castes in India benefit from broad affirmative action programmes

Reservation in India

and are enjoying greater political power."

There are places where a father would kill his own child if he/she marry outside the caste ( Honour killing ). There are also places where 2 separate drinking glass is used. Hate between different language speaking group is very visible, even in cosmopolitan cities of the country.

Indonesia

See also Jakarta Riots of May 1998

Jakarta Riots of May 1998

The May 1998 Riots of Indonesia were incidents of mass violence that occurred throughout Indonesia, mainly in Medan in the province of North Sumatra , the capital city of Jakarta , and Surakarta in the province of Central Java...

and Anti-Chinese legislation in Indonesia

Anti-Chinese legislation in Indonesia

Indonesian law affecting Chinese-Indonesians were conducted through a series of laws, directives, or constitutions enacted by the Government of Indonesia that affected the lives of Chinese Indonesians or Chinese nationals living in Indonesia since the nation's independence. The laws were considered...

.

A number of discriminatory laws against Chinese Indonesians were enacted by the government of Indonesia

Indonesia

Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...

. In 1959, President Soekarno

Sukarno

Sukarno, born Kusno Sosrodihardjo was the first President of Indonesia.Sukarno was the leader of his country's struggle for independence from the Netherlands and was Indonesia's first President from 1945 to 1967...

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 Islam

Islam

Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

and Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

.

Amnesty International

Amnesty International

Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...

has estimated more than 100,000 Papuans

Papuan languages

The Papuan languages are those languages of the western Pacific which are neither Austronesian nor Australian. The term does not presuppose a genetic relationship. The concept of Papuan peoples as distinct from Melanesians was first suggested and named by Sidney Herbert Ray in 1892.-The...

, one-sixth of the population, have died as a result of government-sponsored violence against West Papuans

Western New Guinea

West Papua informally refers to the Indonesian western half of the island of New Guinea and other smaller islands to its west. The region is officially administered as two provinces: Papua and West Papua. The eastern half of New Guinea is Papua New Guinea.The population of approximately 3 million...

, while others had previously specified much higher death tolls. The 1990s saw Indonesia accelerate its Transmigration program

Transmigration program

The transmigration program was an initiative of the Dutch colonial government, and later continued by Indonesian government to move landless people from densely populated areas of Indonesia to less populous areas of the country...

, under which hundreds of thousands of Java

Java

Java is an island of Indonesia. With a population of 135 million , it is the world's most populous island, and one of the most densely populated regions in the world. It is home to 60% of Indonesia's population. The Indonesian capital city, Jakarta, is in west Java...

nese and Sumatra

Sumatra

Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...

n migrants were resettled to Papua over a ten-year period. Prior to Indonesian rule, the Asian population was estimated at 16,600. Critics suspect that the Transmigration program's purpose is to tip the balance of the province's population from the heavily Melanesian

Melanesians

Melanesians are an ethnic group in Melanesia. The original inhabitants of the group of islands now named Melanesia were likely the ancestors of the present-day Papuan-speaking people...

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

Iran

Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

discriminating and practicing wide racism against Arabs, Kurds, other ethnic minorities. The United Nations

United Nations

The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

panel said "Arabs, Kurds and other minorities in Iran face discrimination because of their ethnicity."
The U.N. urged Iran

Iran

to tackle racism on Arab, Azeri, Balochi

Baloch people

The Baloch or Baluch are an ethnic group that belong to the larger Iranian peoples. Baluch people mainly inhabit the Balochistan region and Sistan and Baluchestan Province in the southeast corner of the Iranian plateau in Western Asia....

, Kurd

Kürd

Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...

ish communities and some communities of non-citizens.

Israel

Organizations such as Amnesty International

Amnesty International

, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Association for Civil Rights in Israel

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel was created as an independent non-partisan organization to protect human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories under its control....

, and the United States Department of State have published reports documenting racial discrimination in Israel.

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Association for Civil Rights in Israel

The Association for Civil Rights in Israel was created as an independent non-partisan organization to protect human rights and civil rights in Israel and the territories under its control....

(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 of 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.

Korea

Koreans tend to equate nationality

Nationality

Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....

or citizenship

Citizenship

Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...

with membership in a single, homogeneous ethnic group

Ethnic group

An ethnic group is a group of people whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, a common culture and/or an ideology that stresses common ancestry or endogamy...

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

North Korea

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea , , is a country in East Asia, occupying the northern half of the Korean Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Korean Demilitarized Zone serves as the buffer zone between North Korea and South Korea...

and South Korea

South Korea

The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...

are among the world's most ethnically homogeneous nations. South Korean schools have been criticised for hiring only white teachers who apply to teach English, because Koreans regard fair skin color as representative of "American" or "English"-ness. Also, Koreans have discriminating words for people with different nationality, even for North Koreans.

South Korea has only granted refugee status to 60 people in its entire history. In comparison, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

has accepted over 35,000 refugees.

Japan

In 2005, a United Nations

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

Doudou Diène

Doudou Diène of Senegal was United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance in 2002—2008....

(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

Dekasegi

Dekasegi is a term used in Latin American cultures to refer to ethnic Japanese people who have migrated to Japan, having taken advantage of Japanese citizenship or nisei visa and immigration laws to escape from economic instability in South America...

, mainly Japanese Brazilians, and foreigners from "poor" countries.

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

accepted just 16 refugees in 1999, while the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

took in 85,010 for resettlement, according to the UNHCR. New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, 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

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is an international convention that defines who is a refugee, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. The Convention also sets out which people do not...

, to 2002. Former Prime Minister Taro Aso

Taro Aso

was the 92nd Prime Minister of Japan serving from September 2008 to September 2009, and was defeated in the August 2009 election.He has served in the House of Representatives since 1979. He was Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2005 to 2007, and was Secretary-General of the LDP briefly in 2007 and...

called Japan a "one race" nation.

Ainu people

Ainu people

The , also called Aynu, Aino , and in historical texts Ezo , are indigenous people or groups in Japan and Russia. Historically they spoke the Ainu language and related varieties and lived in Hokkaidō, the Kuril Islands, and much of Sakhalin...

are an ethnic group indigenous to Hokkaidō

Hokkaido

, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan's second largest island; it is also the largest and northernmost of Japan's 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaido from Honshu, although the two islands are connected by the underwater railway Seikan Tunnel...

, northern Honshū

Honshu

is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...

, the Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands

The Kuril Islands , in Russia's Sakhalin Oblast region, form a volcanic archipelago that stretches approximately northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater...

, much of Sakhalin

Sakhalin

Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...

, and the southernmost third of the Kamchatka peninsula

Kamchatka Peninsula

The Kamchatka Peninsula is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of . It lies between the Pacific Ocean to the east and the Sea of Okhotsk to the west...

. As Japanese settlement expanded, the Ainu were pushed northward, until by the Meiji period

Meiji period

The , also known as the Meiji era, is a Japanese era which extended from September 1868 through July 1912. This period represents the first half of the Empire of Japan.- Meiji Restoration and the emperor :...

they were confined by the government to a small area in Hokkaidō, in a manner similar to the placing of American Indians on reservations.

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 8% of the population. There are also a very small minority of aborigines whose ancestors or Orang Asli

Orang Asli

Orang Asli , is a generic Malaysian term used for people indigenous to Peninsular Malaysia...

arrived in what is today Malaysia well over 7,000 years before the Malays arrived from what is today Indonesia roughly 3,000 years ago. The book "Contesting Malayness - Malay Identity Across Boundaries" edited by Timothy P. Barnard reflects the views of anthropologists that there is no such race as the "Malays" to begin with, even if one has since developed in Malaysia. If one follow the original migration of a certain group of southern Chinese of 6,000 years ago, some moved to Taiwan (today's Taiwanese aborigines are their descendents), then to the Philippines and later to Borneo (roughly 4,500 years ago) (today's Dayak and other groups). These ancient people also split with some heading to Sulawesi and others progressing into Java, and Sumatra. The final migration was to the Malayan Peninsula roughly 3,000 years ago. A sub-group from Borneo moved to Champa in Vietnam roughly 4,500 years ago. Interestingly, the Champa group eventually moved to present day Kelantan in Malaysia. There are also traces of the Dong Song and HoaBinh migration from Vietnam and Cambodia. There was also the Southern Thai migration, from what we know as Pattani today. All these groups share DNA

DNA

Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...

and linguistic origins traceable to Taiwan, if not to southern China. Yet the Malay and Chinese (and also Indian) communities in Malaysia today appear at times at odds with each other given the polarisation caused by various policies under the Bumiputera policy.

There is a big problem with racism in Malaysia, it's mostly in the sense of positive discrimination for the Malay majority and the Bumiputera status (cheaper houses, lower interest rates, easier academic access and so on). Economic policies designed to favour Bumiputeras (basically ethnic Malays, but there are some exceptions), including affirmative action in public education, were implemented in the 1970s in order to defuse inter-ethnic tensions following the May 13 Incident

May 13 Incident

The 13 May Incident is a term for the Sino-Malay sectarian violences in Kuala Lumpur , Malaysia, which began on 13 May 1969...

in 1969. However, these policies have not been fully effective in eradicating poverty among rural Bumiputeras and have further caused a backlash especially from Chinese and Indian minorities. The policies are enshrined in the Malaysian constitution

Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia

Article 153 of the Constitution of Malaysia grants the Yang di-Pertuan Agong responsibility for “safeguard[ing] the special position of the ‘Malays’ and natives of any of the States of Sabah and Sarawak and the legitimate interests of other communities” and goes on to specify ways to do this, such...

and questioning them is technically illegal.

Both major ethnic groups, Malays and Chinese, have their own spheres of control and power. UMNO, a race-based party and the ruling political party since Malaysia's independence from Britain, depends on the majority Malay population for votes by using laws that give Malays priority over other races in areas such as employment. UMNO also promotes ketuanan Melayu

Ketuanan Melayu

Ketuanan Melayu is a political concept emphasizing Malay preeminence in present day Malaysia. The Malays of peninsular Malaysia claimed a special position and special rights owing to their long domicile and the role of the Malay rulers of the nine Malay states...

, which is the idea that the ethnic Malays or Bumiputeras should get special privileges in Malaysia. The Malays dominate in politics at both national and state levels, the civil service, military and security forces. The Chinese have traditionally dominated in the economy and live in large numbers in urban areas of Malaysia like Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur

Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...

, Penang

Penang

Penang is a state in Malaysia and the name of its constituent island, located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia by the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered by Kedah in the north and east, and Perak in the south. Penang is the second smallest Malaysian state in area after Perlis, and the...

, Malacca

Malacca

Malacca , dubbed The Historic State or Negeri Bersejarah among locals) is the third smallest Malaysian state, after Perlis and Penang. It is located in the southern region of the Malay Peninsula, on the Straits of Malacca. It borders Negeri Sembilan to the north and the state of Johor to the south...

, Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru is the capital city of Johor in southern Malaysia. Johor Bahru is the southernmost city of the Eurasian mainland...

and Kuching

Kuching

Kuching , officially the City of Kuching, and formerly the City of Sarawak, is the capital and most populous city of the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It is the largest city on the island of Borneo, and the fourth largest city in Malaysia....

.

The Malay-controlled government ensures that all Bumiputras of Malay origin are given preferential treatment when it comes to the number of student places in Government universities, they are also given 7% discounts for new houses purchased by them, special Malay reserve land in most housing settlements, burial plots in most urban areas for the deceased Bumiputeras while the rest have to be cremated at such locations or pay premium prices, that all key government positions to be held by Malays including most sporting associations, a minimum of a 30% Malay Bumiputera equity to be held in Listed Companies, full funding for mosques and Islamic places of worship, special high earning interest trust funds for Bumiputera Malays, special share allocation for new share applications for Bumiputera Malays, making the Malay language a compulsory examination paper to pass with such high emphasis given to it. However, recently the government have decided to made 45 percent of overseas scholarship to non-Malays.

The lack of meritocracy in the Malaysian education system is frightening, the problem is it creates more disparity between various groups in Malaysia. Even school text books have been criticised as racist. “Interlok” is a novel used in schools, with Chinese groups today condemning its depiction of Chinese characters as greedy, opium

Opium

Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...

-smoking lechers keen to exploit Malays for profit. Indian community earlier complained over the novel’s use of the word “pariah

Pariah

Pariah may refer to:* A member of the Paraiyar caste in Indian society* Pariah state, a country whose behavior is out of line with international norms-Science and mathematics:* Pariah dog, a type of semi-feral dog...

”. Chinese community have called to drop the “racist” book from schools. Chinese associations said the book was not only offensive to Indians but Chinese as well, as it depicted the character Kim Lock as a “miserly opium

Opium

addict and callous adulterer” and his son, Cing Huat, as “cunning, greedy, unscrupulous and someone who would happily sell his daughters”. “‘Interlok’ propagates the ideology of ketuanan Melayu

Ketuanan Melayu

. In our considered opinion, this novel is not only unhealthy but an insidious poison,” complained the Chinese associations. They added,“‘Interlok’ conveys the central message that Chinese, Indian and other minorities are second-class citizens in addition to perpetuating the divisive notion of a host community (the Malays) versus foreigners (‘bangsa asing’ Cina dan India).” The groups also condemned the “major thread” in the book, which depicts the Chinese “cheating and oppressing” Malays or as “nasty and immoral” communist guerrillas. The statement was signed by the Kuala Lumpur and Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall (KLSCAH), LLG Cultural Development Centre, Malaysian-China Chamber of Commerce, the Federation of Chinese Associations Johor, the Penang Chinese Town Hall and 40 others, including the Malaysian Consultative Council of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikhism and Taoism (MCCBCHST), Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM) and several Indian organisations. “Interlok” was written by Abdullah Hussain in 1967 and chronicles the daily struggles of the Malays, Chinese and Indians in pre-independence British Malaya

British Malaya

British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...

.

Whether in education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

or in other arenas, Malays get many easy breaks and advantages solely based on their race, which in turn makes them lazier as they are not required to work so hard as the other races to achieve the same thing. The Bumiputra policy was initially well-intentioned, now it's out of date and it is doing more harm than good for Malaysia. Amongst Malaysians, the economic power of the Chinese community is exaggerated and the laziness of the Malays is overstated. But these ethnic stereotypes persist in Malaysia and hinder national unity efforts.

Malays have all the easy breaks the Bumiputera policy gives them, from the education system, through into the work place. The civil service

Civil service

The term civil service has two distinct meanings:* A branch of governmental service in which individuals are employed on the basis of professional merit as proven by competitive examinations....

and security forces

Security Forces

Security Forces can refer to:*United States Air Force Security Forces*Iraqi security forces...

in Malaysia are heavily dominated by Malays. Many 'mostly Malay' companies are like the civil service, they work shorter hours, do little work and when one expects them to do some work they do everything to get out of it. Mostly it's not their fault, it's the systems fault, the government

Government

Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...

, the establishment

Establishment

Establishment can mean the act of establishing something, as well as that which has been established, by such an act or otherwise.In human society, establishment or The Establishment may refer to:...

, the society

Society

A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...

, the culture

Culture

Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...

rather than the individual, but every individual could work to change it, but due to the problem itself, they wíll not. The work place is still fairly segregated too, many big companies in Malaysia are 'mostly Malay'. For the small start up companies, they fight hard for business, and of these those people making money, those people taking risks, only very few of those companies are Malay companies. Most of them are Chinese and Indian companies. The Malay start-ups only start up when they can get a lucrative government contract that they do not have to work hard on through a contact. The way tenders and proposals are done in Malaysia for the big companies, generally it's who one knows, or how much one bribes, not who does the best work and has the skillset for the job. This is changing somewhat slowly.

Many cannot deal with racism in Malaysia and leave for other countries like Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, U.S.A. and elsewhere. Many talented people in Malaysia leave because of this exact problem. For smart Malays, they have two options: they can use their skills abroad, or remain in Malaysia, learn to abuse the system and with their Bumiputera status, make a lot of money. Many Chinese, in their late twenties or thirties, also go overseas to earn more, and have serious qualms about coming back given the situation in Malaysia.

The Chinese and Indians have to work much harder to get the same results, by doing this they are also improving themselves. Many Malays however find that they can sit back a bit. When these groups reach the corporate world, even though the non-Bumiputeras have been at a disadvantage, they actually often end up better because of the need to work additionally hard. In the end the Bumiputera system hurts many in Malaysia, including those who use it as a crutch.

The whole political culture is racially-charged because so many issues are seen in racial terms. The larger political parties, UMNO, MCA and MIC in the ruling coalition are all based on race. The media often does not help. Racism appears on the rise in Malaysia despite many Malaysians wishing that the situation would be otherwise.

In 2010, a Malaysian court sentenced a Muslim Malay to just a week in jail and only fined 11 others for a brandishing a cow’s head during a protest against the construction of a Hindu temple. Critics said the light sentences would further strain race relations between the majority Malay Muslims, who make up the majority, and minority Hindu Indians, Chinese as well as Christians of various raaces who complain of discrimination. The 12 were from a group who had marched in August 2009 with the bloodied head of a cow, some stomping on it, to protest a plan to build a Hindu temple in their mainly Muslim neighbourhood. Hindus, who consider the cow to be a sacred animal, were offended and angered.

For Ramadan 2011, television station 8TV had some advertisements featuring a Chinese woman at a Ramadan bazaar. The condescending advertisements were pulled for being racist and the station was expected to apologise. Instead they claimed Ramadan advertisements were an “honest mistake” and went on to claim that the viewers misunderstood the clips. The Ramadan advertisements – released as public service announcements (PSA) – appeared to be stereotyping Chinese people, depicting a socially-inept Chinese woman embarrassing others at a Ramadan bazaar. The clips were withdrawn following an online uproar.
Quoting Austrian philosopher Karl Popper, the station said in its Facebook note: “It is impossible to speak in such a way that you cannot be misunderstood.” “The PSAs highlighted the clueless behaviour of a Chinese woman played by an actor in scenes to demonstrate what might embarrass Muslim Malay hawkers and bazaar

Bazaar

A bazaar , Cypriot Greek: pantopoula) is a permanent merchandising area, marketplace, or street of shops where goods and services are exchanged or sold. The term is sometimes also used to refer to the "network of merchants, bankers and craftsmen" who work that area...

patrons alike. In one instance, the Chinese woman dressed in a sleeveless singlet, proudly showed her armpits, censored by pixels, to passersby while touching a bunch of bananas. Each PSA was soon followed by a moral lesson, advising viewers on good public behaviour. Some of these messages included: “Do not be greedy and eat in public”. 8TV said that the PSAs were only meant to serve as messages of “respect” for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The PSAs appeared to target Chinese non-Muslims rather than both Muslims and non-Muslim alike.

Pakistan

A strong anti-Bengali

Bengali people

The Bengali people are an ethnic community native to the historic region of Bengal in South Asia. They speak Bengali , which is an Indo-Aryan language of the eastern Indian subcontinent, evolved from the Magadhi Prakrit and Sanskrit languages. In their native language, they are referred to as বাঙালী...

Pakistan

i regime during the Bangladesh Liberation War

Bangladesh Liberation War

The Bangladesh Liberation War was an armed conflict pitting East Pakistan and India against West Pakistan. The war resulted in the secession of East Pakistan, which became the independent nation of Bangladesh....

were strongly motivated by anti-Bengali racism

Racism

Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

within the establishment

The Establishment

The Establishment is a term used to refer to a visible dominant group or elite that holds power or authority in a nation. The term suggests a closed social group which selects its own members...

, 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

Spanish people

The Spanish are citizens of the Kingdom of Spain. Within Spain, there are also a number of vigorous nationalisms and regionalisms, reflecting the country's complex history....

and Spanish Mestizos

Filipino mestizo

Filipino mestizo is a term used in the Philippines to describe people of mixed Filipino and foreign ancestry. The word mestizo is of Spanish origin, and was originally used in the Americas to only describe people of mixed European and Native American ancestry.- History :Spanish periodThe Spanish...

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 Amerasian

Amerasian

In its original meaning, an Amerasian is a person born in Asia, to a U.S. military father and an Asian mother. The term has sometimes been used to describe a person in the United States of mixed Asian and non-Asian ancestry, regardless of the circumstances....

s, 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, the actors and actresses are overwhelmingly of part-White

White

White is a color, the perception of which is evoked by light that stimulates all three types of color sensitive cone cells in the human eye in nearly equal amounts and with high brightness compared to the surroundings. A white visual stimulation will be void of hue and grayness.White light can be...

descent.

Similarly, the status of Filipinos of Chinese descent

Chinese Filipino

A Chinese Filipino derived from two words: "Tsino" and "Pinoy" ) is a Philippine national of Chinese ethnicity but born/raised in the Philippines....

varied throughout the colonial powers. It is accepted generally, though, that a 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 repressions against the Chinese, however, such as immigration policies deemed unfair toward migrants from China during President Ramon Magsaysay

Ramon Magsaysay

Ramón del Fierro Magsaysay was the third President of the Republic of the Philippines from December 30, 1953 until his death in a plane crash in 1957. He was elected President under the banner of the Nacionalista Party.-Early life:Ramon F...

'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

Ferdinand Marcos

Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...

. 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

Sinophobia

Sinophobia or anti-Chinese sentiment is the fear of or dislike of China, its people, overseas Chinese, or Chinese Culture...

sentiments among a minority of the Philippine population, as manifested in Internet forums and periodic public demonstrations. Nevertheless, the Philippines is still considered to be one of the most tolerant Southeast Asian nations.

The Philippines is a multicultural country. The majority of the population is Malayo-Polynesian groups, with small but politically and economically important minorities of Chinese, Spanish, American, Japanese, and Arab 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

Pogrom

A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...

" became commonly used in English after a large-scale wave of anti-Jewish riots swept through south-western Czarist Russia

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

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

Pale of Settlement

The Pale of Settlement was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia, in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed, and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited...

, the Western frontier of the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

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

Russian Civil War

The Russian Civil War was a multi-party war that occurred within the former Russian Empire after the Russian provisional government collapsed to the Soviets, under the domination of the Bolshevik party. Soviet forces first assumed power in Petrograd The Russian Civil War (1917–1923) was a...

, an estimated 70,000 to 250,000 civilian Jews were killed in the atrocities throughout the former Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

; 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

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

have risen to include as many as tens of thousands of people. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2005/08/14/MNGUSE7N2D1.DTL Racism against the peoples of the Caucasus, Africans, Central Asians and East Asians (Vietnamese, Chinese, etc.) is an ever-increasing problem. http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?aid=726

A Pew Global opinion poll showed that 25% of Russians had an unfavorable view of Jews. http://pewglobal.org/reports/display.php?PageID=795 Racism towards central Asians is said to be widespread.

Singapore

The last time Singapore had a racial riot was in 1964, but since then things have been tranquil. Four decades after independence from Britain, a whole new generation of Singaporeans has passed out from schools and universities, more argumentative and articulate.

Yet whilst some things change, others seem to remain the same. For as long as anyone can remember, many women in Singapore with dark skin have been regarded by men as undesirable dating or marriage partners, hence one can easily find skin whitening products in stores and advertisements in Singaporean newspapers for skin-whitening products.

People who date (or marry) outside their own ethnic group are often socially shunned, so many Singaporeans prefer to stick to their own kind and are not inclined to reach out to have friends or dating partners of another ethnic group even if they have classmates or colleagues of other ethncity, given the social stigma on dating or marrying outside one's ethnic group.

The reasons for this racism in Singapore are multifold and include:

The failure to fully face up to Singapore's relatively recent colonial past and reconcile that with government policies (e.g. promotion of Mandarin
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese, or Modern Standard Chinese, also known as Mandarin or Putonghua, is the official language of the People's Republic of China and Republic of China , and is one of the four official languages of Singapore....

which is one of four official languages, etc.) and cultural and language practices.

Deeply rooted myths of cultural, ethnic, 'racial' purity, sense of ethnic superiority, etc.

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.

A lack of political will to enact anti-discrimination laws that might support or defend non-Chinese minorities who may encounter discrimation (e.g. in employment) from the majority (Han) Chinese.

A general lack or disdain for appreciating other cultures at more than a geopolitical level, built partly on overblown 'ethnic' pride.

In Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

there is a certain amount of "victim mentality" with the "white" man being the main culprit. One can see evidence of a similar mentality in the approach of Robert Mugabe
Robert Mugabe
Robert Gabriel Mugabe is the President of Zimbabwe. As one of the leaders of the liberation movement against white-minority rule, he was elected into power in 1980...

(President of Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...

) in blaming all failings on former colonial
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...

powers, all racism is done by white, all Western influence is evil etc. etc. - this leads to cultural chauvinism in the short-term, and deeply entrenched racism in the long-term. The 'white man' is affectionately or unaffectionately called "ang mo" (short for "ang mo kui" or "red-haired devil", or "ang mo kao" or "red-haired dog") in the Minnan dialect. Typically, the single white man, whether expatriate or visitor, is seen as the insatiable poacher of Singaporean women of Asian origin. On a political level, this translates to blaming the 'West' or Westerners in general for many ills in particular the lack of filial piety
Filial piety
In Confucian ideals, filial piety is one of the virtues to be held above all else: a respect for the parents and ancestors. The Confucian classic Xiao Jing or Classic of Xiào, thought to be written around 470 BCE, has historically been the authoritative source on the Confucian tenet of xiào /...

amongst Singaporeans who have allegedly been influenced by the West.

In contrast, some clubs (typically those founded by expatriates) and Western restaurants are sometimes accused of discriminating against local Singaporeans in favour of Western club members and patrons.

Racism has also widened to include recent Chinese migrants from China. Singaporeans have made insulting remarks about "ugly, rude" Chinese mainlanders who have benefited from Singapore's open-door policy to migrants from China.

In simple terms, Singaporeans have little desire to confront racism. Singapore is dominated by a single ethno-linguistic group to a much greater extent than most western or even middle eastern countries. Whilst not mono-cultural, Singapore is not multi-cultural as other countries like Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, U.S.A. or France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

understand it. This in turn means there a perception of being absolutely no economic, social or cultural benefit to combating discrimination, because put bluntly, the group(s) e.g. minority Malays, India

India

ns, Eurasians, Filipinos

Filipinos

Filipinos is the brand name for a series of biscuit snacks made by Kraft Foods. In Spain and Portugal they are produced and sold under the Artiach brand name. Under license to United Biscuits, in the Netherlands they are sold and produced locally under the Verkade brand...

, Indonesians

Indonesians

Indonesians may be:*any nation or ethnic group of Indonesia**see Demographics of Indonesia**see Overseas Indonesians**see Ethnic groups in Indonesia**see Native Indonesians...

, Europeans, Jews

Jews

The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

, etc. that would complain are so much smaller as a proportion of the population, or are only non-citizens, so there is much less willingness on the part of political leaders to tap into their aspirations to earn votes, hence the voices of discrimitated minorities are simply less important in Singapore. A simple gloss that is often used as an easy way out is the phrase "Singapore is a multi-racial society" that appears over and over again in the media and government publications. The phrase is typically used without going beyond or analysing the circumstances of discriminated minorities including their housing, job and income situations. The preference is to deal with expressions of extreme racism, e.g. on web sites, by way of the Sedition Act

Sedition Act (Malaysia)

The Sedition Act in Malaysia is a law prohibiting discourse deemed as seditious. The act was originally enacted by the colonial authorities of British Malaya in 1948...

. This, however, curtails freedom of speech in Singapore.

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

Racial Harmony Day

Racial Harmony Day is celebrated annually on 21 July in Singapore. The event is to commemorate the 1964 Race Riots, which took place on 21 July 1964....

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. However, the result has not eradicated idiotic race remarks frequently made by young people who believe that the Internet and free expressions give them the licence to say what they want. A number of young bloggers and commentators have been charged under the Sedition Act for making disparaging remarks about race and religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

. Typically they contain anti-Malay and anti-Muslim comments. Insulting words would be used to describe Malays, satirised their attitudes, social customs and religious prohibitions. Some more extreme views include suggestions to blow up Muslim holy sites and eliminate Malays. Hate messages have become a norm amongst young Singaporean net users, a significant number of whom make up the bigots of bloggersphere.

Taiwan

The Nationality Law of the Republic of China

Nationality Law of the Republic of China

The Nationality Law of the Republic of China defines and regulates nationality of the Republic of China . It was first promulgated by the Nationalist Government on February 5, 1929 and revised by the Taipei-based Legislative Yuan in 2000, 2001, and 2006.The Act, like the Constitution of the...

has been criticized for its methods of determining which immigrants get citizenship.

Vietnam

The Sino-Vietnamese War

Sino-Vietnamese War

The Sino–Vietnamese War , also known as the Third Indochina War, known in the PRC as and in Vietnam as Chiến tranh chống bành trướng Trung Hoa , was a brief but bloody border war fought in 1979 between the People's Republic of China and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam...

resulted in the discrimination and consequent migration of Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

's ethnic Chinese. Many of these people fled as "boat people

Boat people

Boat people is a term that usually refers to refugees, illegal immigrants or asylum seekers who emigrate in numbers in boats that are sometimes old and crudely made...

". 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.

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