Consolidating A Majority In Democratization process of Myanmar

The recent Myanmar visit of US President Barack Obama has rightly generated hope for the solution to the problem of Rohingya Muslims. President Obama, however, did not touch the basic issue – the citizenship of Rohingya Muslims. This article highlights the citizenship issue of Muslims and their discrimination. –Editor.

Very few knew of who the Arakanese people were prior to the doctored photos circulated via social media in the name of atrocities perpetrated on Indian origin Muslims in Myanmar. It is impossible today to hide crimes against humanity committed anywhere around the world. The issue of citizenship perpetuating a genocide to possible vote bank politics is the emerging democratization in Myanmar. 

The calls by Buddhist monks on 15th June 2012 to exterminate the Muslim population were probably part of an organized, planned campaign to consolidate a majority of a particular race. As the country moves towards democratization with the release of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi and elections are on the way, such a massive violation of human rights has shocked the world. The role of Nobel Prize winner has left many speechless when she failed the test of leadership required or moral grounds by declaring, “I’m not sure if the Rohingyas are Burmese”. The Myanmar government’s stand remains: the ethnic group has no claim to citizenship and the President recently called the High Commissioner (UNHCR) to try to settle them to a third country.

The issue of citizenship could become central in vote bank politics in the coming democratic elections. The voters list for the 2012 Elections scheduled to be published this year is cited as the main reason for the communal genocide of Rohingyas. Currently, there are 300,000 Rohingyas living in refugee camps on the Bangladesh border. They have come here fleeing persecution and discrimination in the country. NGOs claim the recent clashes have claimed 1000 lives and rendered 28,000 registered and 500,000 unregistered refugees.

The citizenship rights available in Myanmar are of three categories; citizen, associate citizen and naturalized citizen, according to the 1982 Citizenship Law. Under Chapter II (3) of the Citizenship Law, Nationals such as the Kachin, Kayah, Karen, Chin, Burman, Mon, Rakhine or Shan and ethnic groups who have settled in any of the territories within the State as their permanent home from a period anterior to 1185 B.E., 1823 A.D. are Burma citizens. Full citizens are those belonging to one of the so-called 135 ‘national races’, who lived in Burma prior to 1823 (just prior to the conquest of parts of lower Burma (Arakan and Tenassarim) by the British), or were born to parents who were citizens at the time of birth. Associate citizenship was only granted to those whose application for citizenship under the 1948 Act was pending on the date the Act came into force. Thus the associate citizens are those who acquired citizenship through the 1948 Union Citizenship Law. Naturalized citizenship could only be granted to those who could furnish “conclusive evidence” of entry and residence before Burma’s independence on 4 January 1948, who could speak one of the national languages well and whose children were born in Burma. Thus naturalized citizens refer to persons who lived in Burma before independence and applied for citizenship after 1982. Foreigners cannot become naturalized citizens unless they can prove a close familial connection to the country. In 1989, colour-coded Citizens Scrutiny Cards (CRCs) were introduced: pink cards for the full citizens, blue for associate citizens and green for naturalized citizens. Rohingyas were not issued with any identity cards which are very essentials in all their activities. “In 1995, in response to UNHCR’s intensive advocacy efforts to document the Rohingyas, the Burmese authorities started issuing Temporary Registration Card (TRC), a white card, like the 1949 Residents of Burma Registration Act. The TRC does not mention the bearer’s place of birth and cannot be used to claim citizenship. It does not indicate the place of birth and therefore provides no official evidence of birth in Burma thus perpetuating their statelessness.” The name Arkan was changed to Rakhine and the state capital from Akyab to Sittwe. The word ‘Rakhine’ replaced the word ‘Arakanese’ and is by design attributed to the Buddhist Arakanese at the exclusion of the Muslim Rohingya Arakanese. However, Article 3 of the 1982 Burma Citizenship Law defines indigenous ethnic groups (Taing-Yin-Tha) stating “Nationals such as the Kachin, Karen, Chin, Burma, Mon, Rakhine or Shan and ethnic groups as having settled in any of the territories included within the States as their permanent home from a period anterior to 1185 B.E., 1823 A.D” are Burma citizens. The term ‘Rohingya’ was stamped out from the list of Burma’s national races, and Rohingya language features to be non-existent. Previously parliamentary government listed 144 ethnic groups in Burma, later only 135 groups on a shortlist were approved by BSPP regime’s constitution of 1974. The three Muslim groups of Rohingya (Muslim Arakanese), Panthay (Chinese Muslims), Bashu (Malay Muslims) and six other ethnic groups were deleted. The 1982 citizenship law deprives people of Indian and Chinese descent of citizenship.

The politics of citizenship in Myanmar denies the fact that it has followed a pattern of discrimination historically. In colonial times the Thakin party provoked Arakanese natives Muslims and Buddhists on communal lines and began separating the Indian and Burmese identities as distinct in religion, race and culture. It became the reason under British rule for Burma to be separated from India in 1937. On British withdrawal, the first major massacre to exterminate Indians and Bengalis was recorded lasting forty days claiming 150,000 lives. A systematic policy of replacing Muslims from a position of power in government and restriction of travel in the wake of armed attacks left Muslims with no refuge from sporadic extermination until 1947. The Arakanese Muslims took up arms and fought a war of resistance which was lost in 1954 in Operation Mansoon. Thousands lost their lives or were deported for aiding Mujahids. The Military takeover in 1962 did little to improve the situation. The use of propaganda machinery to establish hatred, transfer of Muslim officers from border areas and threat to Muslim civil servants for dismissal or disciplinary action forced many to migrate to current Bangladesh. The Mayu Frontier Administration of the region was brought under the centre’s rule with restrictions on inter-town trade. The Immigration Investigation Operation meant physical torture, rape, molestation, mistreatment before being labelled illegal immigrant or arrest and forced to abandon their home, property and deported to Bangladesh by force. The King Dragon Operation in 1978 was yet another program to dehumanize Muslims, forcing them to deportation and on escaping many shot dead or their boats set on fire. As many as 300,000 Arakanese refugees reached Bangladesh and were put in makeshift camps by authorities for the first time. Islamic heritage was removed and a campaign to change the identity of the region began to make it more Buddhist in 1990. Muslim villages were evacuated on the pretext of rebuilding model townships but Buddhists shifted into them.

Myanmar has ratified only two international human rights treaties, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The kind of violation faced by Muslims is considered the most repressive in the world. It however is not bound by any law since it does not recognize the Rohingya Muslims as citizens. They are unlawfully detained, tortured and given maltreatment. Congregational prayers and Qurbani are banned. Commercial premises and businesses can be confiscated as well as restricted in inter-state trade. Their culture is attacked and language, schools, institutions. They are made to work for no pay and given insulting treatment by the military. As of March 1999, 34 new settlements were built to replace Muslims. They cannot travel to Ayab on any grounds including medical, nor the capital or neighbouring villages or only with a travel card. Marriage is controlled to manage population and gaining requires 2-3 years along with taxation. Each year a family photo is submitted to the government and taxed for any new birth or death. Historical artifacts and traces of their origin are destroyed like their language written in Arabic script in old coins bearing the kalimah. Many are forced to change their names and the name of institutions. Mosques and Madrasah cannot be repaired without government approval and no new ones have been built in the last 20 years. Muslims cannot build their homes of concrete. They can use wood and if accidentally their homes are burned they are sentenced to six years imprisonment as all their property is state-owned. Muslims are not entitled to avail of state services like hospitals, education, government jobs, fixed telephone lines or mobile. Their livestock is taxed and must do business in partnership with Buddhists who do not invest in any capital. The State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) violates a host of civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights that along with Saudi Arabia have not ratified or signed the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

The recent genocide was not condemned by the Burmese governments though the people of the world criticized it. So far 31 NGOs are involved in relief work including Amnesty International while a political settlement is reached via the regional mechanism of ASEAN.

Author contact: amnahf@gmail.com

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