190 McInerney The history of discrimination against the Karana in Madagascar is extensive. Large-scale riots against the Karana communities do not occur anymore, but there is still a great racial divide between the Karana and the Malagasy communities.34 An informal survey of Karana individuals in the jewelry district in the capital city of Antananarivo, where many Karana own shops, revealed that peoples’ experiences varied regarding the extent to which they felt discriminated against. For the most part, no one reported physical violence, but reports of verbal abuse were common. Particularly common is to use the term ‘karana’ in a pejorative manner.35 Kidnappings of Karana individuals continue to occur frequently. In many cases these are schemes to extort money from wealthy business owners and the victims are returned unharmed, but that is not always the case.36 3.3 The Relative Success of the Karana Community The difficulty the Karana face in their daily lives as a result of their inability to access Malagasy citizenship is limited in scope for several reasons. Madagascar does not have social service programs like universal healthcare or social security. Because social safety mechanisms are lacking in Madagascar, the Karana are not being precluded from accessing any specific government services as a result of not having citizenship. Malagasy citizenship is not necessary to attend the public schools. Even so, many of the Karana will pay for their children to go to a private school. Many of the Karana can afford to do this because the Karana are some of the most successful business owners in Madagascar. The relative 34 35 36 Karana individual interviewed, whose family had been in Madagascar for several generations, indicated that a foreigner can rent land for 99 years but a foreigner cannot buy land in his own name without citizenship. Sophie Blanchy discusses the anti-Karana riots which started in Madagascar in 1987, see Sophie Blanchy, Karana Et Banians (n 16) 265. Sophie Blanchy, ‘Indians in Madagascar’ (n 22) 93. On 23 February 2008, Madagascar Tribune reported a kidnapping. An Indo-Pakistani merchant was taken around the time his shop was supposed to close. He was among the Karana who received kidnapping threats at the end of the year. Manou, ‘Un Karana d’Andravoahangy enlevé’ Tribune Madagascar (Antananarivo, 23 February 2008); Madagascar Tribune, reports that a 9 year old child of Indo-Pakistani decent was kidnapped outside a mosque in Mahajanga. A ransom of 3 billion ariary (a little over 1 million USD) was demanded. ‘Kidnapping Karana à Mahajanga’ Tribune Madagascar (Antananarivo, 2 February 2010); La Gazette de la Grand Ile, reported on the kidnapping of the 5th Karana in a month and the 2nd in a week. Not all these victims have been rich. ‘L’insécurité règne: 5ème kidnapping de Karana’ La Gazette de la Grande Ile (14 January 2012). tilburg law review 19 (2014) 182-193