Minorities and discrimination based on caste and analogous systems of inherited status 2016, para. 38
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According to the former Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance, there are three types of descent-based discrimination in Africa, including caste systems based on "occupational specialization of endogamous groups in which membership is based on ascription and between which social distance is regulated by the concept of pollution" and those in which discrimination is based "on real or perceived descent from slaves, leaving many in 'virtual' slavery, unable to leave their owner's employ for fear of reprisals or starvation".