Beyond legal categories of indigeneity and minority-ness: The case of Roma and falling in-between

The categories emanating from international human rights law defining the belonging of peoples to different types of minorities invites for a re-assessment. These different minority categories such as indigenous peoples, national (historical) minorities and migrants tend to fix people to different types or levels of specific protection. The justifications for different treatment are, however, not born in a vacuum or value-free, and they rarely fit seamlessly with real life cases of needs of minorities. Thus, in this article I shall discuss the legitimacy and consequences of the current typology, which divides minorities into different categories. This categorization has direct consequences for the rights people can claim vis-à-vis their governments and the international community. To illustrate the key concerns with the contemporary categorization of minorities, this article presents the case of Roma and their current struggles to fit their claims and needs into the existing minority rights framework.