Myanmar said yesterday that Muslims would not be allowed to register as “Rohingya,” but rather as Bangalees in today’s census, the first in three decades in the country that has fanned sectarian tensions.
The move came as Buddhists in an unrest-hit western state vowed to boycott the census over fears it could lead to official recognition for the Rohingya, viewed by the United Nations as among the world’s most persecuted minorities.
“If a household wants to identify themselves as ‘Rohingya.’ we will not register it,” government spokesman Ye Htut told reporters in Yangon.
He said people could call themselves “Bangalee,” a term used by the authorities, who view most Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh, reported AFP.
Bangladesh Ambassador to Myanmar Anup Kumar Chakma told the Dhaka Tribune that Myanmar’s Citizenship Law of 1982 recognised as many as 135 ethnic groups and the Rohingyas were not one of them.
He said the population census could be a step forward to resolve the problems in the Rakhine state.
Myanmar is holding the first census today after 1983, with assistance from the UNFPA and other development agencies.
However, foreign aid workers were reported to have fled the restive Rakhine state this week after Buddhist mobs attacked their offices as tensions escalated in the run up to the census, according to an AFP report.
An 11-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet after police fired warning shots to disperse angry crowds in the state capital Sittwe.
Humanitarian workers in the region have come under increasing pressure from Buddhist nationalists who accuse them of bias in favour of local Muslims.
The United Nations is pulling some 50 international and Myanmar staff from the region, while other major humanitarian groups are also removing their workers temporarily.
Households across Sittwe were seen Saturday bearing signs declaring: “This house is protesting against the census. Do not register.”
The census is aimed at plugging an information deficit in the former junta-run country.
The population tally has come under fire for its inclusion of ethnic and religious questions, which critics say will further fan the flames of unrest and threaten fragile peace talks with minority rebel groups.
Buddhist nationalists have reacted with fury to the fact that the questionnaire includes a section for people to self-identify their ethnicity, theoretically allowing the Rohingya to be registered as such and raising fears it could lead to political rights for the group.
But government officials in the state have sought to assure them that the term will not be counted, according to local MP Aung Mya Kyaw.
“They will only write down ‘Bangalee’ because Rohingya does not exist,” he told AFP.
Long-standing animosity between Buddhists and Muslims in Rakhine erupted a bloodshed in 2012, leaving dozens dead in clashes and around 140,000 people displaced.
Muslims in remote parts of Rakhine have reported that the authorities have threatened local people with harsh penalties if they try to identify as Rohingya.
The Rohingya are subject to a web of restrictions on travel, work and even marriage. Their influx started in Bangladesh in the late 1970s when the Myanmar military junta had started persecution against them.
There are about 30,000 Rohingya refugees in two camps in Ukhiya and Teknaf of Chittagong, while about five lakh undocumented Rohingyas are believed to be in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has been negotiating with Myanmar for years to send them back. There are many citizens in Myanmar with Bangladeshi-origin.
Source: Dhaka Tribune
