Arakan News Agency
Arakan National Party lawmakers have raised objections to a Muslim woman in Arakan State’s Buthidaung Township being issued full citizenship earlier this month—an act which they say was carried out against existing regulations.
Kyaw Zaw Oo, an ANP regional parliamentarian, said that his claim that the woman’s citizenship status was granted wrongfully is backed by the head of the immigration department, Win Lwin, and the Arakan State security border affairs minister Col. Htein Lin.
On Wednesday, four ANP representatives and the state governing body held a public meeting to discuss the objection of Buthidaung Township’s Buddhist Arakanese residents to the national verification committee’s recommendation for 31 of the township’s Muslim residents to be granted citizenship.
After anti-Muslim violence spread throughout Arakan State in 2012 and 2013, an “Action Plan” for the region was introduced under the administration of ex-President Thein Sein in 2014. Included was a citizenship verification drive aimed at stateless Rohingya Muslims in Arakan State—some of whom have other ethnic affiliations, such as the Kaman, an officially recognized group. Those self-identifying as ethnic Rohingya were required to register as “Bengali” in their application—an assertion that they are migrants with origins in Bangladesh, rather than Burma—or not be considered for citizenship.
On Aug. 17, around 400 Arakanese Buddhist residents of Buthidaung Township gathered at the Aye Zedi monastery to denounce government officials and launch a poster campaign in response to the recent citizenship recommendations. “For sale” signs were placed in front of their homes and businesses, suggesting that they would leave the township if ineligible “Bengalis” started being recognized as citizens, which they say has led to a rise in crime and disputes over land.
Source : Irrawaddy
