ICYMI: Myanmar Begins Controversial Citizenship Verification Process

Disturbing. Linking citizenship to ethnicity and religion in Myanmar:

Many Rohingyas are skeptical that a government that already classifies them as Bengalis will grant them citizenship based on the testimonies of village elders.

Washington has, in the past, pressured the Myanmar government on the 1982 Citizenship Law. And in its 2014 report on religious freedom, called on authorities to promote the rights of Rohingya Muslims and provide “durable solutions” for refugees outside the country.

Matthew Smith, director of the international human rights group Fortify Rights, says giving Rohingya equal access to citizenship rights is crucial to preventing the conflict in the future. He says foreign nations should press the government more on the issue.

“The fact that the immigration department is handling this issue is indicative of the perception that all Rohingya come from Bangladesh,” Smith said. “Immigration is an issue on all of Myanmar’s borders, but the wholesale denial of Rohingya citizenship, Rohingya ethnicity, has contributed to these abuses that we’ve been documenting now for two years.”

Have not seen much Canadian government representation on the citizenship issue although Andrew Bennett, the Ambassador for Religious Freedom, routinely mentions Rohingyas in his speeches.

Casts a blemish on Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar’s democratization.

Myanmar Begins Controversial Citizenship Verification Process.