I. Introduction

1. The year 2022 marks the thir­ti­eth anniver­sary of the Dec­la­ra­tion on the Rights of Per­sons Belong­ing to Nation­al or Eth­nic, Reli­gious and Lin­guis­tic Minori­ties. To com­mem­o­rate the adop­tion of this impor­tant instru­ment, the Spe­cial Rap­por­teur focus­es the present report on the vul­ner­a­bil­i­ties and lived real­i­ties of minori­ties with regard to con­tem­po­rary forms of slav­ery. The scope of the report is not lim­it­ed to nation­al minori­ties, as it also cov­ers non-cit­i­zens such as migrant work­ers, many of whom are minori­ties in des­ti­na­tion States.1 The Spe­cial Rap­por­teur will also assess the expe­ri­ences of peo­ple who are dis­crim­i­nat­ed against based on work and descent, such as those sub­ject­ed to caste-based dis­crim­i­na­tion or descent-based slav­ery, as they can be regard­ed as part of an “eth­nic minority”.2 Indige­nous peo­ples may expe­ri­ence sim­i­lar caus­es and con­se­quences of con­tem­po­rary forms of slav­ery, but the present report does not focus on them as that would mer­it a sep­a­rate analysis.

2. To inform his research, the Spe­cial Rap­por­teur issued a call for input to a wide range of stake­hold­ers, includ­ing Mem­ber States, nation­al human rights insti­tu­tions, civ­il soci­ety orga­ni­za­tions, Unit­ed Nations enti­ties and region­al human rights bod­ies. He wish­es to thank all enti­ties who respond­ed and wel­comes the engage­ment demon­strat­ed in this process.3 The Spe­cial Rap­por­teur also drew on infor­ma­tion gath­ered from desk research and con­sul­ta­tions with mul­ti­ple stakeholders.