South Asia State of Minorities Report 2019 The country chapters are followed by an annual update on the situation of minorities in South Asia. These updates highlight the major developments that took place in each country that had a direct impact on the minorities either through acts of commission or omission. Migrants, Refugees, and the Stateless25 Afghanistan Afghanistan has no majority ethnic group but in terms of religion, Muslims form an absolute majority. Sunnis form the majority with 80-90 per cent of the population while Shias are at 10-20 per cent. Specific data on the composition of ethnicities is unavailable as no national census has been conducted in Afghanistan since a partial count in 1979, and years of war and population dislocation have made an accurate ethnic count impossible. The chapter on Afghanistan reviews the situation of three minorities in the country—the Hazaras, Ismaili Shias and Hindu-Sikhs. Due to the absence of comparability at present, the chapter does not dwell on the issue of the more than 72,000 people from Pakistan’s North Waziristan who have sought refuge in Afghanistan since 2014. Minority rights in Afghanistan were historically curtailed; improved during the communist regime (1978 -1992); worsened after the Taliban takeover and their rule (1996-2001); has improved comparatively since the collapse of the Taliban regime in 2001 (specifically due to an international presence); and is again in jeopardy as the Islamic State (IS) gains control over parts of the country. The Afghan constitution has several contradictory provisions since it prohibits discrimination and commits to protection of the rights of all Afghans irrespective of their ethnicity, religion and language, yet puts the tenets of Islam above the law and limits the presidency of the country only to Muslims. The three specific groups that the Afghanistan chapter deals with are the Shia Hazara, the Ismaili Shias, and the Hindus and Sikhs. The suppression of ethnic Hazaras in Afghanistan can be traced back to the 1880s. Branded ‘infidels’ by the majority 25 All the sources cited have been retained in the individual country chapters and removed from the introduction in order to avoid duplication. xxxiv