Discrimination in the World - Essay Example

Throughout the world’s history, refugees, asylum seekers, and otherwise supplanted persons have been the victims of racial discrimination, racist attacks, and ethnic intolerance. “Racism is both a cause and a product of forced displacement, and an obstacle to its solution. In 2000, some 150 million migrants were living outside their countries of birth. Of these, some 50 million people were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, and human rights violations” (World Conference Against Racism, 2001).

Developed nations have introduced a stream of preventive policies targeting those who seek the sanctuary of safer lands. Even customarily generous host countries in the developing world have become increasingly reluctant to host large refugee populations as they are often overburdened with social and economic problems of their own. Minority members whether racial or ethnic are vulnerable groups who too often face persecution, subjective imprisonment, offensive treatment by law enforcement, and unequal treatment the court system.

“Ostensibly race or descent-neutral laws can have a disparate impact on vulnerable minorities – or even majorities – as a consequence of prosecutorial discretion, or sentencing policies, or the nature of the law itself” (World Conference Against Racism, 2001). At the national and local policing level, ethnic inequities arise from practices such as racial profiling where an individual's presumed race is the determining factor in placing them under suspicion. The unfounded discr