By KPN News
April 27, 2014
Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Rohingya from Maungdaw district –Maungdaw and Buthidaung – opposed the proposal which U Myit Kyine, head of the Immigration and Population Department, while his first visited these areas to register as Bengali or to keep the column blank, today at 4:00 pm, said Halim , a Human Rights Watchdog said.
U Myit Kyine, called some Rohingya elders including ruling party MP from Maungdaw at Maungdaw Township Administration office’s hall today to discuss about the update process of census which he had proposed last visit. But, Aung Myo Min alias Jangir, on behalf of Rohingya community from Maundaw, said that all Rohingya will register in census as Rohingya as race and didn’t accept the Bengali and to keep blank, Halim said.
The Rohingya from Maungdaw didn’t accept the Bengali as the government exposed in the country that Bengali mean illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh and it is not ours, said Jangir in the meeting.
All the participants from Maungdaw, supported the remark or statement, said Amin, an elder from Maungdaw.
Similarly, in Buthidaung, Dr. Bashir also stated on behalf of Rohingya community from Buthidaung, they only accept the word Rohingya as a race, no Bengali and not to keep blank the column which proposed U Myit Kyine, said Hamid from Buthidaung. After state of Dr.Bashir, all the participants supported the statement of Dr. Bashir.
Both Township, more than 30 persons each participated in the meeting.
Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) strongly condemns the method the government of Burma has had used to exclude the ethnic Rohingya people from the census and/or to label them as Bengalis – More than 6,000 families came and told officials to register them as Bengali stated by U Myit Kyine, head of the Immigration and Population Department- which violates the norms and terms of international law and practices, according to their statement dated on April 24, 2014.
Arakan Rohingya National Organisation (ARNO) believes the above statement is but another physiological approach of the government to influence the Rohingyas to identify themselves as Bengalis, a term that implies they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
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