The remainder of the respondents comprises either legal permanent residents (15.2 percent) or employment/ student visa holders and their dependents.

Respondents identified access to health care, job trainings and legal services as three priority service needs. In terms of legal services, the top three areas of need are taxation and finance, immigration, and criminal defence.

In the last year, 28 percent of our respondents reported that they had experienced unfair treatment when dealing with law enforcement officials or government authorities.

Of these respondents, 32 percent were Pakistanis, and 43 percent were Sikhs, communities that have experienced greater levels of discrimination and profiling since September 11, 2001.

'Through our project, we know that South Asians need access to information and resources related to health care, legal services, financial education and vocational training,' said Deepa Iyer, Executive Director of SAALT.

Key recommendations made to city authorities include providing culturally and linguistically accessible information to South Asians, broadening the outreach of government agencies, and developing South Asian community-based infrastructure in the Washington DC metropolitan region.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)