The twelfth session of the Forum on minority issues was convened on 28 and 29 November, 2019 at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, in application of the resolution 6/15 of 28 September 2007 on the rights of the man and the resolution 19/23 march 23, 2012. This year, the theme of the Forum was " Education, language and the human rights of minorities ". The rights of linguistic minorities are human rights which are questioned today. Around the world, minorities are more often faced with important challenges for the use and the maintenance of their language, as well as access to a quality education and in particular to an education that contributes to the preservation of their language, their culture and their identity. Today, this central theme is discussed in the UN to defend and popularize a right to the recognition of identities in the minority within each country, in the first place. Then, some minorities claim to secure access to education in the minority language, which is fundamental for the maintenance of linguistic diversity. In fact, a language that is not taught is a language that will eventually disappear. The benefits of education in the mother tongue, are now scientifically established through studies, certified by the UN, on children in different parts of the world. That is why it is necessary to promote the right to 197 countries members of the United Nations. In addition, the protection of minority languages, as well as the recognition of, respect for and promotion of the educational needs of minorities, is a crucial element of the protection and preservation of the culture of minorities and promotion of the diversity of society, and therefore an important factor in reducing tensions, inter-state, inter-ethnic and conflict prevention. 

The conference was an opportunity for state delegations to take the floor, as well as NGOS, in compliance with a time limit, given by the President, two minutes : 

  • Kurdish culture was discussed several times during the conference : in Iran, the kurds see themselves as deprived of the right to live their cultures while eleven million kurds living in Iran in 1979 during the islamic Revolution. However, it has been notified that the iranian Constitution recognized the right of minority languages and cultures to flourish in the country, according to article 19 of the Constitution, which stipulates that all people of Iran have equal rights regardless of religion or ethnicity, but the result is actually a stigma stronger of the kurdish identity. Mr Salih AKIN, a member of the Institute kurdish to Paris and assistant professor in linguistics at the university of Rouen took the floor to discuss the Kurdistan : the work, the research conducted and the literature exist and are flourishing despite the lack of official recognition. At the end of the convention, it was given to the delegation representing Iran for a right of reply that she used to specify the provisions of article 15 of the 2 out of 3 iranian Constitution, which establishes the teaching of minority languages, such as allowed in the country. They mentioned the kurdish as a language taught in the faculties, and the same, and a network tv broadcasting especially programs in minority languages. The association kurdish-swiss alliance also made reference to the fate of the kurds in Turkey, or the number of schools increased from 365 to 200 since 2014. The association Flowers referred to, for its part, the kurdish minority in Syria is the victim of the syrian army with in march 2018, more than 1,200 victims identified in the city of ..., chemical attack and an obligation to convert to islam. 
  • The case of the uighurs in China has also been very criticized by the international community with a culture that is lost through the restriction of education, language and culture : indeed, in a systematic way, it has been reported that the forced abandonment and an official of the identity of the uighurs to the chinese culture with the closure of schools and the outlawing of this language and culture, school programs, like the internment camps since 2017 uighur refractory. During their right of reply, the representatives of the chinese delegation have refuted these claims in the promotion of bilingualism policy, and inclusion of their country, especially through the schools, the transmission of culture and the agreement left the population of uyghur-speaking uighurs. 
  • The delegation of pakistan stated and authorized to promote in their countries, multilingualism, multiculturalism, and the proliferation of religions in their territory to fight against xenophobia, violence and persecution. Therefore, they have called on the international community to take action in response to the position of india in the Kashmir region that is losing its identity in the face of the closure of mosques in particular. The response of the indian delegation was quite virulent, with a refutation of about pakistani, stating that " Pakistan violates the rights of its minorities, therefore, we have no lessons to receive from a fake democracy ". Afterwards, the President of the conference gave Pakistan an ultimate right of reply by saying " Can you deny the arbitrary exclusion of 1.5 million bangladeshi people in your area ? They have been deprived of their rights ? Can you deny the multiple reports of the international community on cases of torture and arbitrary imprisonment ? ". 
  • The rapporteur of the UN mission for education, Juan de Dis Simon took the floor for seven minutes to promote the right to the language, the culture and the education on the continent of Latin America, then, that in recent times a lot of education programs are an apologist for colonialism and/or the policy of the state. He insisted at length on the need to learn to know and to educate young people. He also mentioned the fact that ten-seven countries in Latin America are not the same today to recognize language and cultural identities are a minority in their own country because of the policies put in place are too low. Aboriginal people are not quite integrated, the rapporteur has recommended to the international community and the countries concerned to improve the statistics on the various ethnic groups to be able to then promote and adapt certain public policies and, finally, put 3 on 3 local programs specific. In conclusion, he called for education in all its forms in minority languages to preserve some cultures captivating but also for their ability to understand the evolution of their respective countries, and not be stigmatized. 
  • The members of the foundation for the defense of the Azerbaijani people have condemned the crimes against Human rights committed by Daesh : the Azerbaijani people for survivor is settled for some years in makeshift camps in Turkey and Kurdistan, which creates serious problems in housing, education and the transmission of azeri culture from generation to generation. 

      To conclude, this conference helped us to remember that the education in minority languages, and the teaching of the latter is of crucial importance for many minorities in the world : several agencies dealing with the issue, including at this conference, and recount tirelessly to what extent public policies should contribute to the effective implementation of the human rights of persons belonging to minorities to use their languages in education. It is therefore necessary today to promote this teaching in order to preserve and promote the languages and identities in the minority, through a pedagogical approach in particular. The final aim of this conference is to reflect, based on the results of these two days of debate, to the best means of addressing the issue of education in minority languages, and the teaching of these languages through various recommendations. These will be presented by the Chairman of the Forum and the special Rapporteur to advance the following give to the work of the Forum.