The State and Minorities

US President Donald Trump\'s executive order policy prohibiting Muslim immigrants from seven countries of origin entering the US has been widely criticized.

Everyone is essentially free from discriminatory treatment. The very tight checks at all international airports and public areas in the US after the implementation of the policy on January 27, 2016, are a violation of the basic principles of humanity. The controversial US policy is an illustration of discrimination against a particular group of people with the support of the state.

The attention of the world community against the minority started post-World War I. At that time, the countries that won the war, especially in central and east Europe, completed a case-by-case study of the minority groups internally and bilaterally. Later on, the spread of the minority groups became increasingly wide and overlapped across the nations, shifting the resolution of the issue of minority groups to a universal approach, and this happened after World War II.

Until now, there is nearly no country without minority groups. Albanian people are an ethnic minority group in Yugoslavia. The Hispanic (descendants of South America/Latin America) are a minority group in the US because of economic and political class differences. Maoris in New Zealand are minorities because of their status as indigenous people.

Residents of Quebec in Canada are a minority group because the English they use is different from the majority who speak French. In Asia, Rohingya in Myanmar and Uighurs in China are minorities due to their religion and the faith they profess.

Elements and characteristics

Identifying minority groups refers to the descriptions of elements and characteristics delivered by Francesco Carportoti, the UN special complainant in 1971, who dealt with indigenous people, religions and languages. According to him, there are five elements and characteristics that determine minority groups.

First, in the national context the number is smaller than the whole population in a country. Second, they exist in unfavorable situations. Third, they are not in a dominant position in the life of the state or society. Fourth, they are different in ethnicity, religion and language from the rest of the population. Fifth, they have a sense of group solidarity to maintain the culture, tradition, religion and language. The five elements and characteristics must be met to be able to identify a minority group.

The Amungme tribe in Papua, the Punan tribe in Kalimantan, the Nuaulu tribe in Maluku and many other tribes in Indonesia are minorities.

They still practice ancestral traditions and rituals as a bond of solidarity. The conviction adheres closely to traditional/ancient beliefs and daily communication uses the mother tongue in a tradition passed down through the generations. And what cannot be denied is the partiality of the state toward the indigenous people leads to an unfavorable situation for them, including the policy of mining permits, which is not favorable to the indigenous people.

Also, the Chinese enter the minority group. In the national context, their number is no more that 1.2 percent of Indonesian people (BPS, 2010); their traditions and ancestral rituals (Lunar New Year, Cap Gomeh and others) are still revived; and in their daily lives many of them still speak Mandarin.

In the life of the state, citizens of Chinese ethnicity are not as fortunate as other citizens as they are still asked to show their Proof of Indonesian Citizenship (SBKRI) in any public service processing. This group still experiences discrimination in the political sector. Basuki Tjahaja Purnama\'s blasphemy case allegedly contains a discriminative element against the Chinese ethnic group.

Groups of religions and local-based beliefs can also be identified as minorities. The issue of public administration services (difficulty to get ID cards, birth certificates and marriage documents) is the impact of the absence of recognition of their religions and beliefs. On the other hand, the government utilizes the traditions they have as assets (tourism) to raise cultural prestige and budget revenues.

The seren taun ceremony as a thanksgiving for the good harvests, which is held annually by the adherents of Sunda Wititan is an example of solidarity of the indigenous people who still practice ancestral traditions.

Criticism

The identification of minorities based on the lexical meaning of minority, namely the smaller number that the rest of the population, is misguided. The burning of a mosque in Tolikara, Papua, in 2015 can serve as an example of mistake about the identification of minority groups. Referring to the elements and characteristics of "the smaller number in the national context", the number of Muslims limited in Papua does not make them a minority group.

However, the elements and characteristics of the minority groups ala Carportoti need to be criticized. The ethnic Chinese, judging from the reality, is a group that is dominant in society, especially in the economic sector. Data from several sources claim that Chinese-Indonesians contribute about 80 percent to Indonesia\'s economic development.

The followers of Protestant Christianity, Catholicism, Buddhism, Hinduism and Khonghucu are religions are "recognized" by the state. In terms of number (each) is not more than 10 percent; an unfavorable situation happens when performing religious rituals where several of them are not allowed to build houses of worship.

However, can\'t they be categorized as minority groups? Only because of the solidarity bonds they experience when they carry out their religious rituals, unrelated to tradition, culture and language?

Even though there is criticism, Carportoti’s description is comprehensive enough to identify minority groups in Indonesia. There are two things that relevantly strengthen minority groups, especially to describe the elements and characteristics of "unfortunate situations", namely disguised imposition (indirect coercion) and multi-discrimination. "The unfortunate situation" that is experienced by the minorities can be one of the elements and characteristics prioritized in identifying minorities compared with other elements and characteristics.

Disguised coercion

Disguised coercion is different from the meaning of discrimination. As an illustration, discrimination against black people in the US took place in the education sector during the era of President Eisenhower (1957).  At that time, the Arkansas Governor prevented nine African-American students from entering secondary schools in Little Rock Central because of their different skin color.

The situation shows treatment that was “differentiated” and not intended to force the black people to change into white in order to be able to go to school. Beginning with the differentiating treatment, disguised coercion led to an indirect imposition on individuals to change.

The veiled coercion was experienced by the followers of Parmalim teaching in North Sumatra and several adherents of local religions and beliefs. They are frequently requested to fill the religion columns in line with a religion that is "recognized" by the state. If they are not willing to, they are asked to leave the column vacant. This practice is still going on and a similar situation will also be experienced by followers of religions and beliefs who have different teachings from those of the mainstream.

Another veiled coercion is experienced by children of the Muaulu tribe who live in Petuanan Negeri Sepa, on Seram Island, Maluku. They are asked to follow religious teachings of one of the religions "recognized" by the state even though in daily life and belief, they profess the ancestral beliefs where Upu Kuanahatana is their creator.

Multi-discrimination happens to certain individuals in minority groups. The followers of Sunda Wiwitan do not only receive discrimination in the processing of the citizenship identity (ID cards and birth certificates/marriage), their children are not unused to experiencing different treatment from fellow students, teachers and other school officials. Likewise, the female followers of Sunda Wiwitan, according to their confessions, experience discrimination in public spaces (markets, community health centers).

In Tanzania and Burundi, those who are born albino (a pigment disorder) are considered cursed and must be eliminated. The same thing is also experienced by those suffering from leprosy. People with leprosy are thought to be cursed, and even if they recover, they will be ostracized from their families and indigenous communities.

Political agenda

Ideally, the segregation of the minority and majority does not need to exist, especially in Indonesia, which has a diversity of races, ethnicities, religions and groups. However, the reality shows the underdevelopment in many development sectors that are experienced by the minority groups. A future political agenda is to identify the minority groups oriented toward the recognition of their existence.

Hopefully in the future, the minority groups can have identity cards and marriage and birth certificates in accordance with the religions and beliefs they abide by. Hopefully they can undertake religious rituals without any obstacles and live and stay in their ancestral lands by transmitting traditions (culture). The most important thing is that they can contribute to the development of the nation and state.

YOSSA NAINGGOLAN

Komnas HAM Researcher and Secretary-General of Asosiasi Alumni Program Beasiswa Amerika-Indonesia (ALPHA-I)