The Stateless Rohingya Blog

A Rakhine man during conflict between Rakhine Buddhist and Rohingya Muslim communities, northwest Myanmar, June 2012. REUTERS/Staff By International Crisis Group February 12, 2014 The nationwide census planned for 30 March to 10 April 2014 risks inflaming tensions at a critical moment in Myanmar’s peace process and democratic transition. The census process should be urgently amended to focus only on key demographic questions, postponing those which are needlessly antagonistic and divisive – on ethnicity, religion, citizenship status – to a more appropriate moment. By doing so, the government, United Nations and donors can demonstrate that they are sensitive to the serious risks presented by the census as currently conceived, and that they are willing to respond to the deep reservations expressed by many important groups in the country. While the collection of accurate demographic data is crucial for national planning and development – it has been over 30 years since th...

Dr. Maung Zarni DVB News: April 26, 2013 Dear International Crisis Group President Louise Arbour, I am writing to bring to your attention to the rather disturbing recent developments in Burma. Within 24 hours of your organisation’s “In Pursuit of Peace” dinner in New York, Burma’s Minister of Immigration and former Chief of Police Khin Yi, who was part of the delegation accepting the award on behalf of President Thein Sein, reportedly reiterated the Thein Sein Administration’s neo-fascist stance on the highly controversial 1982 Citizenship Act. In response to a question posed by a Rakhine nationalist during his public meeting with Burmese exiles in New York City this week, Khin Yi emphatically stated that Burma’s citizenship law is “solely based on blood” and no foreigners or “foreign blood” officially resided in Burma before the first Anglo-Burmese war in 1824. Khin Yi was emphatic when he said Thein Sein’s government will never alter ...