Integration is a human right

Abstract

Cultural integration is a human right central to the fulfillment of most fundamental human rights which can be understood as required for protection from discrimination. Discrimination is the basis of racism, war, apartheid and genocide. Developments in our moral and ethical understanding have made non-discrimination a cornerstone principle in the field of international human rights law. Without cultural integration there will most certainly be discrimination and fundamental human rights protection is compromised. A new theory resolving the fundamental contradiction between assimilation and the right to cultural identity is proposed: this contradiction is resolved through biculturalism, which will also ensure that integration occurs. Integration may thus be seen as the expression of cultural identity.