The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has called the ongoing military operation against the Rohingya in Myanmar a “textbook example” of ethnic cleansing. The Equal Rights Trust joins the UN and others urging the Government of Myanmar to bring an immediate end to all violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine State and to allow access to the region for humanitarian agencies and to the media and independent organisations seeking to document the situation there.

The Equal Rights Trust has made a submission to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in response to its consultation on the Outline of the Draft General Comment on Article 5 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which guarantees the rights to equality and non-discrimination.

On International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia the Equal Rights Trust calls for increased protection of LGBT+ individuals in Russia. Our call is made in light of reports of increasing discrimination and persecution in the country, including in particular the recent horrific reports of the torture and murder of LGBT+ individuals in Chechnya. These reports demand an urgent response. The Equal Rights Trust has been working with LGBT+ groups in Russia for many years. We have noted that increasingly restrictive legislation and inadequate court protection have played a significant role in perpetuating this climate of intolerance and discrimination. We all have a responsibility to act.

Russian Authorities 

At the end of August 2016, following the end of its 90th session, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (the Committee) published its concluding observations on the implementation of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination by Ukraine and the United Kingdom. In both cases, the Committee echoed a recommendations submitted by the Equal Rights Trust in parallel reports.

Following the referendum vote in the United Kingdom (UK) in favour of leaving the European Union (EU) last Thursday, the Equal Rights Trust urges the UK government to take urgent and effective measures to tackle inequality and respond robustly to discrimination. The Equal Rights Trust has noted with concern the centrality of inequality and discrimination to events and discourses in the lead up to and aftermath of the referendum.

Speaking on behalf of the Trust, Bob Niven, Vice Chair said:

Today, the Equal Rights Trust marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities by calling for greater efforts to combat discriminatory torture and other forms of ill-treatment of persons with disabilities.

London, 27 May 2015 

The Equal Rights Trust has today called on the government of Malaysia to establish an independent and comprehensive investigation into allegations that immigration officials were actively involved in the trafficking of stateless Rohingya migrants. The Trust’s call follows the discovery on 25 May of 28 suspected human trafficking camps and 139 mass graves in northern Malaysia, close to the Thai border. 

London, 21 May 2015

The Equal Rights Trust has today called for the establishment of an international Commission of Inquiry on the involvement of the government of Myanmar in the persecution of the Rohingya, stressing that the government’s persistent failure to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the Rohingya population is the root cause of the refugee crisis of the last two weeks. In the wake of the announcement, on 20 May, by Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand that they will offer temporary shelter to up to 7000 stateless Rohingya refugees and migrants from Bangladesh stranded in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea, the Trust is concerned that the stateless Rohingya issue remains as far as ever from an acceptable solution.