Marginalisation of the majority world

A recently published Project Briefing from the Overseas Development Institute reports on the findings of a study examining the experience of Nepalese and Bangladeshi migrants in India. This vulnerable group of people face marginalisation on many different levels, having been compelled to emigrate in the first place because of economic hardship; and facing job-, wage-, and housing-insecurity on arrival because of their ambiguous legal status. Fear of disclosure or of being identified by their accents prevents migrants not only from taking a stand against exploitation, but also from forming networks within the host communities, thereby compounding the other forms of insecurity. In addition, migrants are often marginalised on their return home: "There is a common belief that women who Migrate to india engage voluntarily in commercial sex work once there," while husbands left behind suffer from the stigma surrounding their wives' supposed profession. The briefing concludes with recommendations for mitigating insecurity experienced by this group, who would otherwise be at permanent risk of violence and exploitation.

To read the full briefing, click here

Image Source: FriskoDude

The following article from Global Dashboard takes on the issue of 'inequality' by attempting to address what exactly is understood by the term, why it is so bad for society, and what can be done about it. While many reports focus on the damage done to economic growth by inequality, or the sheer moral wrong in the existence of extreme poverty, this piece also refers to the security implications of high inequality when combined with other potential social faultlines such as ethnicity. However, the closing list of policy recommendations, tested with success in many Latin American countries, shows that this threat can be alleviated if met with determined cross-societal political will.

Article Source: Global Dashboard
Image Source: Hans Zinsli