Paraguay: Is there discrimination against Lebanese and other minorities in Paraguay?
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 June 1989 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | PRY0808 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Paraguay: Is there discrimination against Lebanese and other minorities in Paraguay?, 1 June 1989, PRY0808, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab4634.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Various sources report that native and "mestizo" communities are commonly subject to discrimination, denial of access to the countries basic services and occasionally brutal violence. [ Paraguay, (London: Amnesty International, 1976), p. 13; Paraguay: Repression in the Countryside, (Washington: Americas Watch, May 1988), pp. 1-4.] The violence and extent of the abuses committed against the natives in the mid-1970s, which reportedly included confinement in reserves, exploitation as cheap labour and allegedly being hunted like animals, has led some to regard it as genocide. [Paraguay (Amnesty International), p. 13.] Allegations of native massacres during the mid-1980s were reportedly investigated by the government; although one which allegedly took place in 1987 was found to lack grounds, the investigation of others has not been reported in the available sources. [ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1987: Paraguay, (Washington: U.S. Department of State, 1988).] Most abuses, both against natives and mestizos, have been linked to land owners and people who want to expand or acquire land for cattle raising or agriculture. [ Paraguay: Repression in the Countryside, pp. 1-4.] The mestizo Agrarian Leagues (peasant unions) are also reported to have suffered constant attempts to undermine their organizational structure, through land confiscation, arbitrary arrests and assaults. [Paraguay, p. 13.]
The reports presently available to the IRBDC do not make
reference to Lebanese nationals. For more information on ethnic
minorities in Paraguay, please refer to the attached document: Encyclopedia of The Third World, (New York: Facts on File, 1987), p. 1569.
