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Foreign aid workers arrive in Yangon's airport after flying in from Sittwe, where mobs have been rampaging through streets. (Photograph: Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP)


By Kathleen E. McLaughlin
March 27, 2014

Angry Buddhist protesters rampage through streets as country's first census for 30 years opens up ethnic tensions

Burma's first census for 30 years is at risk of being derailed before it has even started, as renewed unrest in the country's west threatens to send foreign aid workers fleeing, making conditions impossible for counters.

The government is planning a 12-day marathon operation from Sunday in which 100,000 teachers will fan out across Burma to count the population and draw out information such as childbirth and employment rates as well as migration figures.

But the count has threatened to open further the ethnic rifts that have repeatedly spilled over into deadly violence in the west of the country. Western aid workers have been targeted by angry Buddhist protesters, triggering a strict curfew and warnings from international groups they were were formulating evacuation plans.

"These are unarmed schoolteachers," said David Mathieson, a senior Asia researcher for Human Rights Watch, of the census team. "I wouldn't be inclined to send them out if they might have their skulls cracked.

"It's still not too late for the government to call off the entire process," he said.

There is little doubt Burma is in need of a proper census, having last tallied its population in 1983. Even the number of people – believed to be around 60 million – is unknown. But the census is controversial because it opens up the thorny issue of ethnicity and crucially gives the marginalised Muslim Rohingya minority a chance to have their presence in Burma validated for the first time.

There are more than a million Rohingya in Burma, and 140,000 have lived in camps in Rakhine since ethnic riots and clashes with Buddhists nearly two years ago. They will not be counted as Burmese citizens on the census, nor will they be listed among the 135 officially designated ethnic categories. But the census will acknowledge they exist by allowing an "other" category, allowing people to identify themselves as Rohingya.

"We are the Rohingya. We have no other race name. We simply have no choice but to write in our proper name," said Rasheed, deputy principal of an Islamic school in one of the camps. "We are losing every one of our rights, our health care, our education. We are being discriminated against from every corner," he continued. "We have asked our people to stay here and to cooperate with the census and hope that it could help us eventually."

But the validation of the Rohingya has angered Buddhists and sparked new protests in which hundreds assailed the offices and homes of international aid workers.

So great is the desire to be formally recognised in the head count, that in recent days the massive outflow of Rohingya refugees has slowed to a trickle.

Although around 30,000 people fled the camps via trafficking boats last year, and as many as 10,000 more already this year, outflow has all but stopped in recent weeks, said fishermen on the shore. Though life in the dusty camps is often unbearable, the Rohingya want to stay until they are counted.

At one of the largest Rohingya displacement camps, a group of educated men who were once merchants in downtown Sittwe gathered over tea and samosas to discuss how they would cooperate with the census takers and encourage others to have their voices heard.

"Life in this camp has no future," said U Maung Dru, 52. "There is no clinic, no education, many people do not have enough food."

"We hope that after this census, we might have some human rights in the future."

International watchdog groups have warned the census could lead to unrest and violence since it was announced last month.

The Transnational Institute, a global thinktank based in Amsterdam, has called this the most significant census of Burma's people since that conducted by the British government in 1931.

"However, by using flawed designations that date from the colonial era and ignoring the considerable complexity of the present political situation in Myanmar, the census is likely to raise ethnic tensions at precisely the moment that peace negotiations are focused on building trust," the group wrote.

The international crisis group has also warned about dangers presented by the census, calling last month for Burma's government and the United Nations (which is helping lead the count and funding part of the census) to scale back questions about ethnicity. The current 41-point census is "overly complicated and fraught with danger," ICG said in an alert.

"Myanmar is one of the most diverse countries in the region, and ethnicity is a complex, contested and politically sensitive issue, in a context where ethnic communities have long believed that the government manipulates ethnic categories for political purposes," the crisis group said.

But an official from the UN population fund (UNFPA) said Burma's development depends on a complete and accurate census.

"Myanmar has not conducted a census for 30 years, and hence lacks information that is essential to planning for inclusive development … that can benefit all ethnic groups," said Janet Jackson, UNFPA country representative in Burma. "Postponing the census now would likely mean a delay of several more years in making this data available to planners, undermining development efforts and the reform process."

Jackson said census takers and community leaders have had extensive training to help mitigate any risks. The overarching goal of the census is to help Burma's government plan the future for everything from infrastructure and roads to schools and hospitals.

"The census is a critical step in the country's development process," said Jackson. "It has the potential to enable evidence-driven, transparent and responsive planning and policy-making for the first time in the country's history."

RB News 
March 27, 2014

Sittwe, Arakan – At least 15 offices, houses and warehouses have been attacked by Rakhine mobs since Wednesday night in eight different places in Sittwe, the capital city of Arakan state.

As the Rakhines are boycotting the upcoming census for not officially stopping the Rohingya from writing Rohingya. They posted the Buddhist flag on their houses as a sign of the census boycott. The Rakhine staff at Malteser International (NGO) also posted the Buddhist flag at their office. An American staff from Malteser removed it from their office. A rumor spread around that she put the flag in her pants. The Rakhines also spread the false news that the lady staff from Malteser is Turkish. The tension grew from there and more than thousand Rakhines gather since Wednesday. Reportedly the security forces opened fired multiple rounds into the sky on four occasions to disperse the crowd. 

The Rakhine mob threw stones into the offices, houses and warehouses of International Non-Governmental Organizations. Some properties of the INGOs were destroyed. They have attacked eight different places which are in Bout Thi Su, Kyaung Tat Lane, Lanmadaw, Ta Yar Thi Su, Pyi Daw Thar, Yaw Gyi Myaut, Danyawaddy and Owe Dan. 

The staff from Malteser, UNFPA, MSF and LWF were taken under police custody on Wednesday night; the locals said they were forced to leave for Yangon today at 1 pm. A Rohingya refugee in the camp said the staffs from an INGO called "Solidarity" were in the Rohingya refugee camp to pay the staff's salary today at 10 am but they were informed by their office that they have to leave from Sittwe for Yangon at 1:00 pm. 

Reportedly, the sub-office of UNFPA was also attacked which is not very far from Malteser office.

The Rohingyas are in fear since Wednesday night. This afternoon a balloon landed in Aung Mingalar quarter. A very small balloon is inside the big balloon which is unusual. So the residents in Aung Mingalar handed over it to the security to keep themselves safe. 

Although the tension was between an American staff and local Rakhines, the Rakhines are diverting the issue for the upcoming census. As Immigration Minister Khin Yi had threatened the local Rohingya, it could be very possible that what is happening in Sittwe is preplanned and the possible attack on Rohingyas is under way. They created the tension and will force all foreigners to get out from Sittwe before March 30th. This so they can freely attack Rohingyas when the Rohingyas identify themselves as Rohingya in the upcoming census.






(Photos: Facebook)

The extreme sensitivity that surrounds ethnic classification in Burma has dominated discussion on the census.

By Angus Watson
March 26, 2014

Accurate demographic information about Burma does not and has never existed. This year’s census aims to correct that and to provide the data required for successful development projects as the country lurches out of military dictatorship.

Burma’s development is currently underpinned by figures cobbled together from the disparate research of NGOS, companies, UN departments and the government itself. According to Khin Yi, Minister of Immigration and Population, the government’s official statistic of 60.98 million is based on approximate reproduction rates taken from a basis point provided by the last census, conducted in 1983.

That census was flawed by a lack of access to regions impacted by civil war, leaving the end population figure of just over 35 million drastically short of the mark. Despite this census being plagued by the same problem, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Burmese government are determined to get it right this time.

That determination —as well as the magnitude of the task — is best illustrated by the fact that enumerators tasked with interviewing the people of Kachin State’s snowy northern reaches wereforced to hike on foot for two weeks to count those in barely accessible villages.

The stalled nationwide peace process, however, has not been completed in time to make all populations accessible. As in 1983, there is limited chance of conducting the count in Burma’s war torn periphery. The process has also done little to build trust between the government and ethnic minorities, who are now being called upon to provide sensitive personal data.

The most sensitive data pertains to religion and ethnicity, which, particularly in Burma’s western Arakan State, has fuelled internecine violence in the recent past.

There is no doubt that the census, as Dr Hla Hla Aye of the UNFPA in Rangoon believes, “has the potential to enable evidence-driven, transparent and responsive planning and policymaking for the first time in the country’s history”. The power of accurate results to questions on subjects such as infant mortality, household sanitation and education levels cannot be understated.

However, the count will go ahead despite a serious risk of violence, as rumor and misinformation shroud an already complicated process of ethnic categorisation. That threat is especially acute in Arakan State, where communal violence has displaced more than 140,000 people, mostly stateless Rohingya Muslims, and hundreds more have been killed in the past two years alone.

The census has already caused some unrest, before it has even commenced. In mid-March, thousands of Buddhists took to the streets of major towns in Arakan to oppose use of the term Rohingya when writing in ethnicities that do not appear on the list of Burma’s 135 officially recognised ethnic groups. The Rohingya are considered by many Arakanese to be illegal Bangladeshi immigrants and that “Bengali” is therefore the appropriate term.

“We will not allow census data collection in Arakan State,” Than Htun, one of the campaign organisers, told DVB this week, saying that all of Arakan’s 17 townships will participate in a boycott if they do not receive assurance from authorities that the term “Rohingya” will be omitted.

The government insistence on using the much-maligned list of 135 ethnicities has guaranteed that ethnic concerns are not limited to western Burma. The International Crisis Group (ICG), which last month called for questions about ethnicity to be scrapped completely from the questionnaire, noted that in the case of the 53 subdivisions of the Chin people, many clan titles and even village names are classified as stand-alone races.

These inaccuracies splinter minorities and threaten the political status of ethnic groups by limiting their representation in government. The 2008 Constitution provides for National Race Representatives to be appointed in administrative regions that boast a “suitable population” of a single ethnic group. That form of politicised demographic data is at the heart of ethnic consternation when it comes to the census. Fears that ethnic population levels could be skewed downwards has driven ethnic leaders to call for members of ethnic groups to identify as part of an overarching “major minority”.

In some cases, ethnic groups have vowed to conduct their own counts. For the last year, Mon leaders have conducted a census of their own across southern Burma, in what they say is an attempt to rectify government misinformation printed on ID cards.

“The Ministry of Immigration and Population and UNFPA have taken concerns expressed by ALL groups very seriously,” insisted Janet Jackson, UNFPA’s representative in Burma.

“Consultations have been taking place throughout the past year with ethnic armed groups, representatives of self-administered areas, civil society and religious groups,” Jackson assured DVB last week.

Khin Yi has also repeatedly told The New Light of Myanmar that “All ethnic armed groups are ready and willing to cooperate with the 2014 census”, a position that contradicts claims of the Kachin Independence Organisation (KIO), still at war with the Burmese government through their armed wing The Kachin Independence Army.

An unnamed KIO representative told local media outlet Kachinland News that the group was not consulted in the lead-up to the census, and that it is unlikely that civilians in KIO-controlled territories will participate.

Hence the 2014 census suffers some of the very same difficulties as the last inaccurate count. But while data collection in warzones remains a major obstacle to truth, this is not the Burma of 1983 and data collected this time will likely be more reputable, if not fully accurate.

Janet Jackson is right to contest that postponing the census “would lead to a delay of several years in making data available to planners”. The sunken costs of an aborted project would be crippling, which perhaps lies at the heart of Burma Campaign UK director Mark Farmaner’s claim that “census donors privately accept that there is a realistic chance of violence”.

At total of US$58.5 million is being spent on Burma’s 2014 census. According to UNFPA, the Burmese government is paying US$15 million of that bill. The UNFPA is contributing US$5 million and Britain’s Department for International Development (DFID) has donated over US$16 million.

Given the quantifiable commitment made to the project, postponement no longer seems a possibility. About 120,000 trained enumerators wait to conduct the count based on a person’s whereabouts on Saturday night, 29 March.

This despite upset from disaffected ethnic leaders and fearful international onlookers, all calling for postponement.

“The UNFPA, DFID and other donors seem prepared to risk anti-Rohingya and anti-Muslim violence which could result in people being killed,” said Farmaner, “rather than make the politically embarrassing decision to admit they were wrong and say the census must be postponed.

“Nobody deserves to die for a census,” he said.

RB News 
March 26, 2014

Maungdaw, Arakan – On the early morning of March 26, the bazaar in Doe-Dan village tract of northern Maungdaw Township in Arakan state was torched and seven shops were burnt down to ashes.

Today early morning at 3:40 am the fire started from the roof of the shop of Mamed Rashid at Doe-Dan bazaar in Doe-Dan village tract of northern Maungdaw Township. The villagers came to know about the fire immediately and they managed to extinguish the fire at 4:20 pm. The fire saw seven shops burnt down to ashes, according to locals.

Four Rakhines from Nga Ku Ra village passed from the Doe-Dan village by riding motorbikes 20 minutes before starting the fire, according to eyewitnesses. Doe-Dan village tract and Rakhine Natala village is just a half mile away and the Rakhine village is located at the east side of Rohingya village. The Rohingya villagers said that the fire wasn’t an accidental one as it started from the roof and it was during curfew time. 

The list of the owners of the shops that were lost in the fire are: 

(1) Mamed Rashid S/o Mamed Hussein (Food Stuff Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet 
(2) Taher S/o Mamed Shafi (Food Stuff Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet 
(3) Eliyas S/o Nabi Hussein (Food Stuff Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet 
(4) Husson S/o Abdul Rahman (Food Stuff Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet 
(5) Mamed Zubair S/o Dil Mamed (Food Stuff Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet 
(6) Halil Ahmed S/o Abdul Mazaid (Food Stuff Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet 
(7) Halil Ahmed S/o Abudl Mazaid (Snack Shop) From Sin Taung hamlet

As Rakhines have been entering the Rohingya villages during curfew time, the Rohingya Village Administrators raised the issue at the meeting with Township Administrator. The meeting took place in Maungdaw Township administration office on March 16th. The Township Administrator Kyi San responded them saying that Rakhines are looking for frogs at night. So there is no reason to arrest them. The curfew enacted in Maungdaw district is just for the Rohingyas and does not apply to Rakhine Buddhists. The Rakhines can move anywhere freely during curfew time. 

On March 24th, the police officer from police outpost based at Nga Ku Ra village warned that the Rohingya villagers who are guarding the villages at night are not to use battery torches as it made the guards unable to verify who are moving around. 

Yesterday, on March 25th the fire started in Myaw Chaung village tract at the house of the ten house-holds leader named Mamed Alam. The fire started the same way as in other places, from the roof. The villagers could extinguish this fire immediately and the just the roof of the house and another house’s fence were damaged. 

Additional reporting by Sindi Khan.

(Photos: Doe-Dan Bazaar)






In this photo taken on March 20, 2014, teachers of basic education receive a training for nationwide census at a school in Kyaung Gone township, Ayeyarwaddy Delta, Myanmar. As Myanmar continues its transition from decades of military rule and self-imposed isolation, it is about to carry out a census that experts say is crucial for national planning and development, but also likely to inflame already soaring ethnic and religious tensions. (AP Photo/Khin Maung Win)


By Aye Aye Win
March 26, 2014

YANGON, Myanmar — As Myanmar continues its transition from decades of military rule and self-imposed isolation, it is about to carry out a census that experts say is crucial for national planning and development, but also likely to inflame already soaring ethnic and religious tensions.

No one knows exactly how many people live in the predominantly Buddhist nation. The generally accepted figure is around 60 million, but that is based on extrapolations from Myanmar's last census, conducted 30 years ago, a count believed by experts to have significantly underrepresented the Muslim community and excluded large swaths of the country plagued by civil strife.

President Thein Sein's government says the upcoming census, which will see around 100,000 enumerators going door-to-door from March 30 to April 10 with a complex 41-point questionnaire, will give "an accurate picture of how many people are living in the country." That will help policymakers determine what resources are needed, from education and health care to housing and transport, as Myanmar continues its delicate transition to democracy. The information will also help guide foreign investors.

But critics warn the census — put together in collaboration with the U.N. Population Fund — has been fraught with problems from the get go. In short, they say, too much information is being collected.

Questions about race and ethnicity could inflame tensions — and possibly violence — especially in the northwestern state of Rakhine, where Buddhist ethnic Rakhine mobs have in the last two years launched a series of bloody attacks targeting the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, according to the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

Up to 280 people have died and another 140,000 forced to flee their homes in the violence.

Worried that respondents will identify themselves as Rohingya — there is no such category on the survey, but they are free to write it in beside "other" — local ethnic Rakhine have announced a state-wide boycott of the census. They have received support from radical monk Wirathu, who toured the region earlier this month warning of the potential dangers of the census.

Zaw Aye Maung, chairman of the Rakhine Nationalities Democratic Party and Rakhine affairs minister for the Yangon region, said the concern is that the census will be used by Rohingya to try to "legitimize their status."

"This could create complications in the future," he said.

Though many of the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya living in Myanmar arrived generations ago, many are considered by the government to be Bangladeshi immigrants and have been denied citizenship under national law.

As a result, their freedom of movement is restricted and they have little access to education, health care and other basic services.

Daniel Gray, Asia analyst for the British-based risk analysis group Maplecroft, said there is also a feared backlash if the census shows a large jump in the Muslim community as a whole.

The figure from the 1983 census, which said Muslims represented around 4 percent of the population, was widely believed to be skewed by former military rulers to prevent political unrest.

If the numbers turn out to be double or triple that, as is likely, it could "feed into the nationalist narrative that Buddhist traditions are under siege from the spread of Muslim beliefs and their rapidly expanding population," Gray said.

Extremist movements could use this as another excuse for violence.

Ethnic minorities, which together make up about 40 percent of Myanmar's population, argue they were not properly consulted ahead of the census, which requires respondents to identify themselves as one of 135 ethnic groups. Long suspicious of the government, they worry the classification system could be used for political gain.

In some cases, the ethnic groups listed on the survey create too many subdivisions. The Chin, for instance, account for 53 of the categories, though many of the names listed are simply of villages or clans, not separate ethnic groups, fracturing the already small group. In other cases, subtribes with different ethnicities are grouped together, increasing the chances of misrepresentation.

Ethnic groups have been vociferous in their complaints, noting that the census is creating unnecessary divisions and mistrust even as the government scrambles to sign peace accords aimed at ending decades-old rebellions in border areas.

Kachin youth network member activist Khon Ja blamed the United Nations for failing to listen to voices of ethnic communities.

The country's main armed ethnic group, the Kachin Independence Army, said it would not allow census collectors in areas under their control for fear it could cause tensions among different local tribes.

"The process is aimed at dividing the ethnic groups," said KIA spokesman La Nan, adding that aside from members of the Buddhist Myanmar majority, which dominates almost all aspects of government, everyone is "unhappy and concerned about the process."

Displaced Muslims wait outside a humanitarian center for aid at a camp on the outskirts of Sittwe, Rakhine state, in western Myanmar on Feb. 26. (Photo: Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

By Shibani Mahtani
March 26, 2014

SITTWE, Myanmar – Names in Myanmar have always been a point of contention. After years of rule by a military junta that changed the country’s name from Burma, many still can’t even agree on what it should be called.

But a new naming conundrum raised by an upcoming census is threatening to further destabilize the country’s troubled Rakhine state, home to the bulk of Myanmar’s much-maligned Rohingya Muslim minority.

When enumerators begin collecting census data later this month, they will ask responders to pick from a list of 135 ethnic groups, or opt for code number 914 for “others,” which will allow them to write in their own.

Rohingya will not be among the choices, so many say they will self-identify.

“I will use Code 914 to fill out that I am Rohingya, because that is my ethnicity,” said Saw Naing, a Muslim man in Buthidaung township in northern Rakhine state.

Think tanks and others have warned, however, that the survey’s questions on ethnicity will only deepen tensions in already fractured states like Rakhine, where ethnicity and religion are exceptionally sensitive.

The census, an ambitious $75 million undertaking, is Myanmar’s first in more than three decades. Officials say the data collected from the survey, which is being overseen by the United Nations Population Fund and the government, will help in planning aid programs and setting budget allocations.

U.N. and government officials say they aim to count every single person within the country’s borders. That includes the Muslim Rohingya, a group the government has not officially recognized as native to Myanmar, and, as such, is denied most rights offered to citizens, such as access to healthcare and land ownership.

Because the Rohingya are not included in Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law, they are considered stateless, lacking the rights afforded to citizens either in Bangladesh, where the Myanmar government claims they are from, or Myanmar, which they claim as their homeland.

Buddhists in that state say the Rohingya should be called “Bengali,” a term favored by most in Myanmar, including the government. The majority of Burmese consider the Rohingya illegal foreigners, and they say the term Bengali accurately identifies them as immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. This term also will not be among the list of available ethnicities on the census.

On March 16, according to local media reports, Buddhist monks and residents in 13 towns across Rakhine state held protests opposing the use of the word Rohingya anywhere in the census since they say including it as an option will legitimize the Rohingya’s existence in the country. A similar protest is being planned in Yangon later Wednesday.

Last week, the Venerable Wirathu – a monk and leader of the “969 movement” that has been credit for the rise of anti-Muslim sentiment across the country – toured Rakhine state passing out pamphlets that urged Buddhists there to demonstrate against the census.

Meanwhile, Myanmar’s Minister of Immigration, Khin Yi, has said repeatedly that the census will be used primarily to target aid programs. He says Rohingya will not be offered as an option because it is not identified as an official ethnicity by law and has warned that Rohingya who identify themselves as such by write-in could face arrest for providing false information.



March 26, 2014

As Burma prepares for its first national census in over 30 years, concerns have been raised about the timing and method of the nationwide count.

International groups have warned that questions regarding religion and ethnicity could trigger further violence against minority Muslims, and undermine the government’s peace negotiations with ethnic groups.

On the panel this week; census campaigner Swe Zin Htike; Chairman of the Shan Real Population Collection Committee, Sai Kyaut Tit; Nang Raw Zakhung, from Nyein Foundation; and Myo Win, Regional Director of the Burmese Muslim Association.

The panellists disagreed about the potential effect of the count at this politically turbulent time.

Nang Raw Zakhung said the census should be postponed until further consultation with ethnic groups has been carried out.

“By delaying, I don’t mean we should postpone until there is a full ceasefire, but until there is at least some serious consultation with the ethnic groups,” she said. “Right now the categories are a big problem. We cannot deny the fact that there is some political risk.”

But Swe Zin Htike thought it was a good opportunity for the whole country to take part, saying the benefits would be national development.

“I think it should be seen as a programme for the whole country. Then the result will be inclusiveness and national development and we will know which role we have to play. Now, everyone is just looking out for his or her own rights and personal interests,” she said.

Cartoon: DVB Debate
But Myo Win said people were worried that if they declaring themselves in one category or another, it could legitimise discrimination.

“The categories being used by the so-called democratic government come from data gathered by the dictator regime. Therefore, there are concerns about whether this gives legitimacy to the discrimination policy,” he said.

The census mentions 135 official indigenous ethnicities, many of which are grouped under a larger ethnic category. Many groups have been angered by the approach to the question of ethnicity. Analysts say that these questions could create more problems in the country.

“It includes, sub tribes, clans, they divide the Kachin into ten different groups. In the Shan list, one group ‘Tailong’ is mentioned twice. Once under the Shan name ‘Tailong’ and the other under the Burmese name, Shangyi. So they’re talking about the same people there,” said journalist and Burma expert, Bertil Lintner.“The purpose of that list or the outcome of that list will be to divide people, not to unite them,” he said.

Disagreements have arisen over concerns that the results will be used to strip minorities of their rights.

“The Naga are not a small tribe. We are big race. Today, four tribes of Naga are categorised amongst the 53 Chin groups. They said this is not a political issue, but a developmental issue. For us, it is a political issue,” said Nok Tun, from the Naga Community Resource Centre.

However Sai Kyaut Tint said the purpose of the census was not to divide and rule.

“It is not true. It is not systematic division. But since the beginning, it is needed to consult with the ethnics about the categorisation. We spoke with the minister and he said 12 kinds of Shan will be combined as one Shan group.

Other groups have not been represented by census options at all. Ye Min Lwin from the Tamil Youth Association said people, who were ethnically Tamil, would have to list themselves as Indian.

“We estimate that there are over 600,000 Tamils in Burma. But the census only has a category named Indian. My understanding and the worlds’ understanding of calling yourself Indian is that it implies you are an Indian citizen. But I am not an Indian citizen at all,” he said.

The government have announced that people are free to write whatever name they want under the “other” option. However groups such as the Rohingya, a Muslim minority from Rakhine state which is not officially recognised by the Burmese government, are scared that identifying themselves will lead to further persecution.

“When our party did some research we found that people are too scared to name themselves Rohingya,” said Kyaw Soe Aung from the Democracy and Human Rights Party.

Immigration Minister Khin Yi said that problems are arising because people are politicising the census.

“The major difficulty comes from people relating the census to other issues and looking at it from a political point of view. It appears very complex if it is interpreted from the perspective,” said the Minister of Population and Immigration.

However, with unclear messages coming from some officials, panellists say people are still scared.

“They said that there will be action taken against people if they do not answer correctly. The law says they have the right to take action. Law number 16 is about taking action,” said Myo Win. “Isn’t this intimidation?”

Nang Raw agreed, and suggested that the answers could be interpreted in different ways.

“We see this as a trap. It can be interpreted in different ways. Who will guarantee that they will not take action against us?” she said.

The studio generally agreed there is not enough transparency from the government with regards to the census, and although collecting data is in theory a good idea, there are flaws in the process.

Rohingya women are pictured at a schoolhouse outside of Sittwe in May 2013. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

By Lawi Weng
March 25, 2014

RANGOON — The Arakan State government has asked Muslim leaders in Sittwe to urge their fellow followers of Islam not to identify their “race” in Burma’s upcoming census, with authorities worried that allowing Rohingya Muslims to self-identify as such could spark a violent backlash from Buddhists in the troubled region.

State authorities including police Col. Tun Oo met Muslim community leaders on Tuesday morning and told them that the request was intended to defuse tensions in the state, which has seen protests by Arakanese Buddhists against the census in recent weeks that continued in Sittwe on Tuesday. The census, Burma’s first in more than 30 years, will officially begin next week.

The protestors oppose the UN-backed census because it allows Rohingya to identify themselves as they wish, conferring legitimacy on a term that many Arakanese Buddhists—and Burma’s government—do not recognize. The government refers to Rohingya as “Bengalis,” implying that they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

Speaking to The Irrawaddy on Tuesday, Tun Oo said state authorities were concerned that the security situation could further deteriorate in a state that has been wracked by several bouts of intercommunal violence since June 2012.

“We are really worried about it leading to more violence, as there is tension and a lot of protests here against the census,” he said. “This is why we requested at the meeting that Muslim leaders tell their people not to fill in a race type for the census.”

Tun Oo said that because they did not have the authority to make an official statement regarding the census procedure, state authorities had sought out the leaders as a means of “indirectly” coaxing Muslims into compliance with the omission request.

“Our government and even Immigration Minister Khin Yi cannot officially state [a request] not to put the name ‘Rohingya’ on the census because this is an international-standard census. This is why we tried to negotiate an indirect way with Muslim leaders, but we were not successful,” Tun Oo said.

Some Muslim leaders expressed disappointment at the state authorities’ request, which contravenes an assurance given by Khin Yi that Rohingya would be allowed to identify themselves as members of the contested term.

Aung Win, a Rohingya rights activist who attended Tuesday’s meeting, said a handful of Muslim leaders stood up at the gathering and questioned the state authorities’ request.

“I found a lot of our people here talking a lot about how they are not happy about it. Whatever happens, they will fill in ‘Rohingya,’” Aung Win said.

“They told us to leave the race section blank—that now we cannot say what our race is on the census. But Khin Yi and people from UNFPA [the United Nations Population Fund] told us before that we can do it freely,” Aung Win said.

Meanwhile, Arakanese community leaders have threatened to boycott the census if their grievances are not addressed—specifically, that the state’s Muslim minority should only be allowed to identify as “Bengalis” in the census.

Nyo Aye, an Arakanese activist who helped organize the protests in Sittwe, said last week that the Arakanese community would reject the census unless its data collection methodology is changed. “If there is no response from the government … we are ready to boycott the census,” she said.

The 12-day census, organized with UNFPA assistance, is scheduled to begin on March 30 and requires respondents to select their ethnicity and religion. They can choose an ethnicity from a classification list of 135 minorities drawn up in the 1982 Citizenship Law by the then-military government.

The Rohingya are omitted from the list and set apart as a group without citizenship, despite claims from many among the Muslim minority that they have lived in Arakan State for generations.

The UNFPA has said respondents who do not identify with one of the 135 ethnicities can describe themselves as “other” and orally report their desired ethnic affiliation to the enumerator. These responses would later be sub-coded during data processing, allowing an option for Rohingyas to register their ethnic identity as they wish.

Minister of Immigration and Population Khin Yi reportedly told Arakanese MPs that he could not change the census procedures, but assured them that it would not change the government’s position regarding the Rohingya.

Government data from 2010 put Arakan State’s population at about 3.34 million people, of which the Muslim population accounts for 29 percent.

Many Arakanese fear government recognition of the Rohingya population would precede an eventual shift in Arakan State’s demographics that would threaten Buddhist predominance.




By Matthew Pennington
March 25, 2014

Washington -- The House Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday called for an end to persecution of Myanmar's minority Rohingya Muslims in one of the strongest U.S. congressional criticisms yet of Myanmar's reformist government.

The committee is charged with overseeing U.S. foreign policy, and the resolution, which was passed unanimously, also urges the United States and the wider international community to press Myanmar to protect ethnic and religious minorities.

Myanmar's ambassador to Washington rejected allegations of mistreatment against minorities and said the government won't tolerate incitement to religious hatred.

The prospects of the full House taking up the resolution remain uncertain, but it reflects concern in Congress over the outbreaks of communal violence in the country also known as Burma as it shifts toward democracy after decades of direct military rule. It also underscores growing congressional skepticism over the Obama administration's engagement policy.

Since mid-2012, close to 280 people, mostly Rohingya, have died in Buddhist-Muslim clashes in western Rakhine State. Some 140,000 Rohingya have been forced into overcrowded camps, and tens of thousands have fled by boat.

Republican committee chairman Ed Royce said Myanmar can't claim progress on reforms if it does not improve treatment of the stateless Rohingya. He said the U.S. State Department should "take off the rose-colored glasses."

"We cannot embrace diplomatic reconciliation with the government of Burma while human rights conditions in that country have deteriorated," Royce said.

Myanmar has earned an end to its diplomatic isolation and sanctions relief by undertaking its most significant political and economic reforms in 50 years. Over the past two years, Myanmar has released hundreds of political prisoners and opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been elected to parliament.

There's been bipartisan support for the U.S. administration's engagement of Myanmar, but the goodwill is starting to ebb.

The quasi-civilian government of President Thein Sein faces growing criticism, most recently over its expulsion from Rakhine State of the aid agency Doctors Without Borders, which provides health services for 700,000 people there, including camp inmates.

On Monday, a U.S.-based activist group led by a former Democratic congressman, Tom Andrews, reported after visiting the camps that Rohingya face a life-threatening lack of medical care and live in fear of attack. Andrews contended that combined with a climate of rising Buddhist nationalism, there are warning signs of genocide in Myanmar.

Myanmar Ambassador Kyaw Myo Htut rejected that report, saying the allegations in it were "completely groundless." He said the government is "rendering necessary assistance and protection to ensure religious freedom in the nation."

He also pushed back against criticism over the aid group's expulsion.

"Termination of the activities of Doctors Without Borders was made in accordance with the desire of the people in Rakhine State," the ambassador said in a statement to Associated Press.

Myanmar school teachers attend a census enumerator and supervisor training course at a school prior to the Myanmar nationwide census in Kangyidaunt township, Pathein district, in the Irrawaddy Delta region on March 20, 2014. (Photo: AFP/Soe Than Win)

By Al Jazeera
March 25, 2014

Could the country's first census in 30 years cause more tension between ethnic groups?

In Myanmar, could new census data deepen the country's ethnic divisions? It's been more than 30 years since the nation has conducted a population census, but some minority and human rights organisations are worried that having a clearer picture of racial and religious groups will worsen already tense relations, particularly between Buddhists and Muslims. The census is expected to begin March 30, and those who support it say the country needs accurate data to plan its economic future. Join the conversation at 19:30 GMT.

In this episode, The Stream speaks with:

Myra Dahgaypaw @myradah
Campaign Co-ordinator, US Campaign for Burma

U Khin Maung Myint
Head of the Foreign Relations Committee, National Democratic Party for Development

Khon Ja
Founder and co-ordinator, Kachin Peace Network


A child at an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Sittwe, capital of Myanmar's western Rakhine state. (Photo: AFP/Soe Than WIN)

By May Wong
March 25, 2014

United Nations representatives have observed improvements in the refugee camps in various parts of Myanmar's Rakhine state. But residents say the camps are still in dire need of fuel and medical care.

RAKHINE: United Nations representatives have observed improvements in the refugee camps in various parts of Myanmar's Rakhine state.

Rohingya children living in camps for internally displaced people in Rakhine now have better shelter and education.

But they say the camps are still in dire need of fuel and medical care.

Maung Hla Myint, a resident at the Rohingya and Internally Displaced Persons camp, said: "We are refugees. We're not happy to stay here.

“We hope that the authorities can satisfy our desire to return home. There are a lot of difficulties here."

Major General Maung Maung Ohn, the deputy borders affairs minister and secretary, said: “They requested for bigger rooms, cooking wood and schools. We will cooperate with the UNDP and UNHCR.

“The government has the proper funding and if necessary we'll use that for both Begali and Rakhine IDP camps.”

Thousands of residents have been living at the camp for at least a year, and their numbers are growing.

The growing number of residents has caused additional problems, such as insufficient food supply and inadequate healthcare.

And without any jobs, it is hard for the camp’s residents to think about their future.

The Rohingyas are not allowed to leave the camp grounds to look for work.

The Myanmar government said it is for their own protection, as the ethnic Rakhine people do not welcome them.

But UN representatives who visited the camps hope this will change soon.

Bertrand Bainvel, representative of the UN Children’s Fund and the UN Delegation team leader, said: “(We hope the Rohingyas will be allowed to work) so that they can access livelihoods, get access to income and reduce their dependency on aid.

“Living in camps is not conducive to people, and it also creates additional tension on the ground since they require a lot of resources which could be invested somewhere else.”

The UN assistance has been welcomed by both the government and residents, but some point out that the UN needs to be more mindful of the cultural and ethnic sensitivities in Rakhine.

Major General Maung Maung Ohn said: “Even though they're doing a good job, their assistance is not meeting the expectations of the people. That's why there's a problem.

“In the future, if they conduct their activities by keeping in mind the feelings of the locals, their activities will be successful.”

The UN says it will work on the issue together with international non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

It adds that it hopes to work with the government to develop a concrete plan to better assist camp residents.

A Rohingya woman and her child at Bawdupha, a camp located several kilometers east of Sittwe, Arakan State. (Photo: JPaing / The Irrawaddy)

By Matthew Pennington
March 25, 2014

WASHINGTON — A former US congressman who visited camps housing tens of thousands of people displaced by communal violence in western Burma is warning that minority Rohingya Muslims face a life-threatening lack of medical care and live in fear of attack.

Tom Andrews, president of the US-based activist group United to End Genocide, was issuing a hard-hitting report on Monday after a month-long trip to the country. The former Democratic lawmaker is calling for President Barack Obama to use his leverage with Burma’s government to demand protection for the stateless Rohingya.

“Clearly the danger signs are very present and growing that we could be seeing a catastrophe. There’s been significant loss of life already,” Andrews told The Associated Press. “It’s not because of anything these people have done. It’s because of who they are, their ethnicity and the God they pray to. That’s why they are being targeted.”

“The building blocks of genocide are there, and the warning signs of mass violence are there,” he said.

Since mid-2012, close to 280 people, mostly Rohingya, have died in Buddhist-Muslim clashes in Arakan State, casting a shadow over Burma’s rapid transition toward democracy after five decades of direct military rule. Some 140,000 Rohingya have been forced into overcrowded camps, and tens of thousands have fled by boat. Andrews said the rate of departure by sea has doubled so far this year, despite the hazardous voyage and bleak chances of winning asylum elsewhere.

Burma considers the estimated 1.3 million Rohingya to be immigrants who moved to the country illegally from neighboring Bangladesh, though many were born in Burma in families that have lived there for generations.

Last month, the international aid group Doctors Without Borders was forced to stop working in Arakan State, where it provided health care to about 700,000 people, including almost 200,000 displaced people living in camps and isolated villages. The government accused the Nobel Peace Prize-winning aid group of providing more care to Muslims than Buddhists.

Andrews said he spent four days at the camps near the state capital, Sittwe. He said that according to camp inmates, guards turn a blind eye if they choose to flee by sea but inmates wanting to reach Sittwe general hospital must pay bribes for their security. He said acutely sick people were running out of medicine, and some had resigned themselves to dying.

Doctors Without Borders has also expressed fears that shutting down its operations could endanger lives. Its chief last week visited Burma, and in a statement Monday the group said that high-level discussions were continuing with the government on restarting medical activities, beginning with life-saving services such as emergency hospital referrals and treatment of HIV and tuberculosis patients.

The Burmese Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The government has said its priority is law and order in Arakan State.

The United States, which has led the international diplomatic effort to encourage Burma’s democratic transition over the past three years, has called for unfettered humanitarian access and for the government to address Rohingya demands for citizenship.

Andrews said there’s little domestic pressure on the Burma government to address the escalation in ethnic and religious tensions, amid rising Buddhist nationalism ahead of elections in 2015. But he said foreign governments, particularly the United States, retain important leverage because of Burma’s desire for integration into the world community.

Andrews served in Congress from 1991-95, representing a district in Maine. His visit to Burma was unofficial, his second trip there since last June.

United to End Genocide also campaigns on Sudan, South Sudan, Syria and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An MSF doctor gives a rehydration solution to a child with diarrhoea at MSF clinic in a refugee camp on the outskirts of Pauk Taw township, February 2013. (Photo: Kaung Htet/MSF)

By MSF
March 25, 2014

Jakarta - Since Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Holland was ordered to suspend all activities in Rakhine State on February 26, the organisation has been engaged in high-level discussions with the Union Government of Myanmar on the need to maintain essential medical services for the many hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in the state currently facing a humanitarian medical crisis.

MSF International President Dr Joanne Liu arrived in Myanmar on March 16 to participate in the discussions and was invited to take part in a recent high-level Union Government and joint UN-INGO visit to Sittwe, Mrauk U and Minbya in Rakhine State. Dr Liu also met with the Minister of Home Affairs, the Minister of Health and the Deputy Minister of Border Affairs in Nay Pyi Taw.

“I have been encouraged by the open dialogue in the last few weeks on how MSF can work more closely with the Ministry of Health to deliver vital life-saving medical assistance to the people of Rakhine,” Dr Liu said. “I was also able to have productive conversations with authorities and community leaders about working with them to improve mutual understanding and acceptance of MSF activities in the state, which remains a serious challenge.”

Assistance to hardest reached communities

Prior to the suspension, MSF Holland provided medical services to a population of approximately 700,000 people, including almost 200,000 displaced people living in camps and isolated villages. More than 500 staff supported the provision of health services at over 30 sites in the state, including 24 camps for displaced people, treating anyone who was unable to access the medical attention they require. All MSF programmes are based on medical need alone and assist the most vulnerable people and hardest to reach communities. 

Based on consultation numbers for the last quarter of 2013, it is estimated that in the three weeks since the closure of MSF Holland’s clinics, 25,000 consultations would have been carried out, including more than 5,300 for children under five years old. In addition, it is likely that an estimated 40 children would likely have been enrolled into feeding programmes for malnutrition; MSF Holland could have facilitated 223 emergency referrals; 1,471 pregnant women could have received ante-natal care; and 1,500 family planning consultations have been missed.

Medical facilities struggling to cope

During her time in Rakhine, Dr Liu also visited several medical facilities struggling to cope with the sudden suspension of MSF Holland services.

“MSF Holland was the largest and widest reaching INGO working in health in Rakhine and has been present for 20 years,” Dr Liu said. “Over 100 of our medical staff, comprising doctors, nurses and midwives have now left the state, our activities remain suspended and all our clinics are closed. While the Ministry of Health has taken positive steps to try and fill the enormous gap created by the suspension, to replace a programme of this size and in this context is a considerable challenge. Many medical needs remain untreated.”

The focus of the ongoing high-level discussions is to restart medical activities, beginning with life-saving services such as emergency hospital referrals and ensuring that treatment for MSF’s HIV and TB patients in Rakhine is not interrupted.

“Even before the suspension of MSF Holland’s activities, medical services in the townships where MSF was operating were not meeting the needs of all communities,” Dr Liu said. “The scale of these needs is such that the contribution of MSF in collaboration with other actors, particularly the Ministry of Health, will be essential for the foreseeable future.”

Rakhine a particular concern

With the rainy season approaching, any reduction in healthcare in Rakhine is of a particular concern and MSF Holland played a key role in previous responses to outbreaks of infectious diseases in the areas in which the organisation worked.

“It is imperative that the next stage of discussions focuses on finalising concrete plans to address all the medical needs of vulnerable people in Rakhine,” said Dr Liu. “We look forward to continuing a constructive dialogue with both Union and State authorities as well as local communities towards achieving this shared objective.”

Dr Liu left Myanmar on March 23 for Jakarta to continue her tour of the region, which includes high-level meetings with the Indonesian Government and ASEAN representatives.

MSF has been providing health care in Myanmar since 1992 to millions of people from many ethnic origins. Across Myanmar, MSF provides over 30,000 people living with HIV/AIDS with life-saving anti-retroviral treatment as well as over 3,000 tuberculosis patients. It was among the first responders to cyclones Nargis and Giri, providing medical assistance, survival items and clean water sources for hundreds of thousands of people.

Myanmar models present local designers' creations during the Wedding Fair fashion show 2010 in Yangon late on September 19, 2010 (Photo: AFP/Soe Than Win)


By AFP
March 25, 2014

Yangon — Myanmar should scrap proposed restrictions on interfaith marriages, Human Rights Watch said Tuesday, warning that the "blatant discrimination" threatens religious freedom and women's rights.

Muslims, Christians and men of other minority faiths could face up to a decade in prison for marrying Buddhist women under a law being considered by parliament, according to the New York-based watchdog.

The country formerly known as Burma has been shaken by religious strife as it emerges from decades of oppressive military rule, with at least 250 people killed in Buddhist-Muslim clashes since 2012.

President Thein Sein, a former general turned political reformer, last month asked parliament to consider proposed intermarriage restrictions, after a campaign spearheaded by a hardline monk.

"It is shocking that Burma is considering enshrining blatant discrimination at the heart of Burmese family law," said HRW Asia director Brad Adams.

"This law would strip away from women their right to freely decide whom to marry, and would mark a major reversal for religious freedom and women's rights in Burma," he said in a statement.

In a letter to lawmakers, Thein Sein said the proposed legislation was to give "protection" to Buddhists marrying people of other religions.

Full details of the draft law have not been published.

But HRW said a version it had seen would mean that Buddhist women would only be allowed to marry Buddhist men.

The watchdog said it would also require men to seek permission in writing from a Buddhist bride's parents before marriage, "seriously jeopardising women's autonomous decision making".

Myanmar is thought to be around 89 percent Buddhist, with Christians and Muslims each making up around four percent -- although experts believe the true proportion of religious minorities could be higher.

Sectarian bloodshed -- mostly targeting Muslims -- has laid bare deep divides that were largely suppressed under nearly half a century of military rule, which ended in 2011.

Radical monks -- once at the forefront of the pro-democracy movement -- have led a campaign to shun shops owned by Muslims and only to visit stores run by Buddhists. Some were also involved in the religious unrest.

"In ethnically and culturally diverse Burma, government leaders are playing with fire by even considering proposals that would further divide the country by restricting marriage on religious lines," Adams said.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has slammed the interfaith marriage proposals as "a violation of women's rights and human rights".

Myanmar has already faced criticism over a "two-child policy" in some areas targeting Rohingya Muslims, considered by the United Nations to be among the world's most persecuted minorities.

By Robert Finch and Alex Moodie
March 25, 2014

The upcoming national census, scheduled to start on March 30, is proving to be one of the most divisive issues on Myanmar’s agenda. Representatives of the country’s many ethnic nationalities, as well as smaller ethnic sub-groups, are raising vociferous objections. Many feel that it violates their right to identity. Such objections generally work in two opposing directions, which only serves to highlight the complexity and dangers of such an exercise.
President U Thein Sein speaks at the launch of the 2014 census in Nay Pyi Taw on March 1. (Pyae Thet Phyo/The Myanmar Times)

On the one hand, smaller ethnic sub-groups feel excluded, threatened or incorrectly classified if they cannot identify as their own ethnic sub-group. Indeed, the Palaung State Liberation Front recently issued a statement rejecting the census’s categorisation of the Palaung people as one of 33 Shan sub-groups. On the other hand, larger ethnic groups feel that their own wider national identity and cause is undermined if ethnic sub-groups do not identify with them.

Furthermore, the census represents a grave risk to rights and security in the context of recent anti-Muslim and anti-Rohingya violence in Rakhine State and across Myanmar. Although Rohingya Muslims cannot explicitly state that they are “Rohingya”, they can indicate their ethnicity through code 914. There are, however, concerns that enumerators, or data collectors, may simply write “Bengali” instead of “Rohingya” in an effort to deny their identity so they can continue to be portrayed as illegal immigrants. 

Fears have also been voiced that Muslims of other ethnicities might be told to identify themselves as “Muslim”, which is of course a religious rather than ethnic affiliation. Muslims were apparently underreported at 4 percent of the population in the 1983 census due to political sensitivities. There is a significant risk this time around that if the census is accurately conducted and Muslims are required to state their religion over their ethnicity then the results will show large growth in the Muslim population, which could provoke further violence.

Moreover, there are real fears about the logistics of collecting the data, both in terms of authorities using the correct forms and accessing remote, rebel-held areas or active conflict zones. This would have implications for the accuracy of data recorded on the Kachin, the Palaung of northern Shan State and the Wa, in particular. It is likely that some groups, especially in rebel-controlled parts of Kachin State, will be unable to take part in the census at all.

Finally, the consultation process with ethnic groups has been flawed from the outset. Some groups have welcomed the fact that the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) is assisting the government. Yet this trust is misplaced: There has been little transparency, and indeed the UNFPA has been guilty of misrepresenting the views of ethnic groups in an effort to legitimise the census and its own financial and moral backing for the process.

Following a meeting on February 26 with various ethnic representatives in Nay Pyi Taw, the UNFPA disingenuously claimed that ethnic representatives have “call[ed] off postponement of [the] census”. However, it would appear that ethnic groups were hoodwinked by assurances from both the government and the UNFPA that concerns over the categorisation of ethnicity would be dealt with after the census, that “census preparations were adhering to international standards” and that the census was essential for ongoing reforms. The lack of transparency, realism and fair representation is a damning indictment of the vital role of the UNFPA – and other donors – in the census, and only serves to further undermine the credibility of these parties.

Yet this divisive and dangerous census can only go ahead with the support of the UNFPA and other donors. These donors should listen to the views of all ethnic groups and stop manipulating the discussion to suit their purposes. It is clear that this census represents a Pandora’s box of potential ethnic tensions and conflict. At a time when the government claims to be striving to secure a sustainable peace deal with the armed ethnic groups and cementing political reforms before the 2015 general election, the timing and nature of the census is strange to say the least. It risks jeopardising national reconciliation, undermining the peace process and exacerbating religious violence.

This census should be postponed, and only revisited once a comprehensive political settlement has been reached with all ethnic armed groups, political reforms have been properly institutionalised after the 2015 national elections and religious violence has been tackled head-on and defused. The government and the international community cannot afford to get this wrong, especially not now at this highly volatile stage in the country’s reform process.

Robert Finch and Alex Moodie are political and human rights analysts for Burma Partnership, a network of organisations from across the Asia-Pacific region advocating for human rights and democracy in Myanmar.


    • Rohingya Exodus