Costa Rica: Information on the Chinese population in Costa Rica; treatment of members of the Chinese community by general population and authorities; state response to complaints of discrimination or ill-treatment based on ethnicity

According to the CIA World Factbook 2001, one per cent of Costa Rica's population is Chinese (2001).

Costa Rica's 27 December 2001 State Party Report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination states that, "despite the many legal instruments, manifestations of racism and discrimination still occur" in Costa Rica (29). According to the report, "racist expressions can... be heard against indigenous people, Chinese and Jews" (ibid.).

While the report focuses predominantly on the situation of Afro-Costa Ricans and indigenous Costa Ricans, it states the following regarding the portrayal of Chinese Costa Ricans in the media:

The most obvious case of [media] manipulation of information was that of a Chinese restaurant which in 1999, after having been closed for two months, was subjected to an inspection by the regional office of the Ministry of Health in Cartago. On that occasion the premises, in which a restaurant serving Chinese food had been operating, were found to have been evacuated following a rental dispute with the Cartago municipality. Despite that fact, the health inspectors maintained they had found evidence of a rat farm that the proprietor might have used to meet his need for white meat.

This situation was used by the press and then by the public who accepted the information as true, since the belief that "the Chinese eat rats" is part of local culture. The information was rejected by a minority, but the majority accepted it as true out of prejudice and because the media had reported it. Despite the fact that some days later the Ministry officials concerned were relieved of their functions because of the incident, the media did not have the decency to issue a rectification and for a long time the Chinese restaurants were hard hit by a loss of custom.

Another example of prejudice on the part of the press is its dissemination of the idea that there is a Chinese mafia operating in Costa Rica which carries out kidnappings, attacks and murders, when the police have not even been able to prove any connection between the various isolated criminal acts. It is indeed possible that there exists a gang of antisocial Chinese from abroad who have acted in this way, although there is no proof of it, but the unfortunate thing is that these crimes have been presented as the acts of an organized mafia and all Chinese as mafiosi because they are different, with the simple intention of selling more newspapers and improving audience ratings.

An inquiry published by the Journalists' Association about the attention paid to different groups in the media showed that 72% of the news refers to representatives of the governing elite and the other 28% to individuals who are not part of that elite; 65% of those who are not the elite are represented in a negative way as the authors or the victims of violent acts or disturbances and only 35% of that non-elite group are shown involved in neutral or appropriate activities (ibid., 48).

Further reports of the treatment of Chinese Costa Ricans could not be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

Please refer to the full text of Costa Rica's 27 December 2001 State Party Report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination for a detailed overview of the legal framework in place in Costa Rica that attempts to penalize, miniminze and control discriminatory and racist behaviour and actions (see reference list).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

CIA World Factbook 2001. 2001. "Costa Rica." [Accessed 12 Aug. 2002]

Costa Rica. 27 December 2001. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 9 of the Convention. [Accessed 12 Aug. 2002]

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

LEXIS/NEXIS

Internet sites including:

Amnesty International

Country Reports

Derechos-Human Rights

Human Rights Watch

Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Latin American and Caribbean Information Centre, Asians in Latin America: A Guide to Resources

Minorities at Risk

Tico Times