Become Bengali or well detain you: Myanmars draft plan for Rohingya PUBLISHED : Sunday, 28 September, 2014, 5:18am Reuters in Yangon Ethnic Rohingya refugees from Myanmar being transported by boat to a temporary shelter in Krueng Raya. Photo: Reuters Myanmars national government has drafted a plan that will give about a million members of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority a bleak choice: accept ethnic reclassification and the prospect of citizenship, or be detained. Most of Myanmars 1.1 million Rohingya already live in apartheid-like conditions in western Rakhine state, where deadly clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012 displaced 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya. The plan, shared by sources with copies of the draft, proposes Rakhine authorities construct temporary camps in required numbers for those who refuse to be registered and those without adequate documents. Many Rohingya lost documents in the widespread violence, or have previously refused to register as Bengalis, as required by the government under the new plan, because they say the term implies they are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh. The plan says one of its aims is to promote peaceful coexistence and prevent sectarian tension and conflict. It includes sections on resolving statelessness through a citizenship verification programme, as well as promoting economic development. But rights advocates say it could potentially put thousands of Rohingya, including those living in long-settled villages, at risk of indefinite detention. The government will offer citizenship for those that accept the classification and have required documentation. That may encourage some Rohingya to consent to identification as Bengali. Citizenship would offer some legal protection and rights to those Rohingya who attain it. But an official from Rakhine state, who is part of the committee overseeing citizenship verification, said even that would not resolve the simmering tensions between Buddhists and Muslims in the state, or prevent a recurrence of the inter-community violence that plagued the country in 2012. Practically, even after being given citizenship and resettlement and all that, a Bengali with a citizenship card still wont be able to walk into a Rakhine village, said Tha Pwint, who also serves on the committee that oversees humanitarian affairs in Rakhine. The plan was drafted at the request of the national government, said Tha Pwint and three other sources. Myanmese government spokesman Ye Htut could not be reached for comment on the plan. Accepting the term Bengali could leave the Rohingya vulnerable, should authorities in future attempt to send them to Bangladesh as illegal immigrants, said Phil Robertson, deputy director for Asia at Human Rights Watch. One of human rights core principles is the right to determine ones ethnic and social identity, and this is precisely what Myanmars government is doggedly denying the Rohingya, he said. The draft plan states that the authorities would request the UNs refugee agency, the UNHCR, to resettle illegal aliens elsewhere. That might leave them facing indefinite detention, Robinson said, as the UNHCR would be unable to assist. The document says the plan is a work in progress, with time frames to be adjusted according to the situation on the ground. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as Detention or denial of identity Rohingyas choice
Posted on: Sun, 28 Sep 2014 06:06:05 +0000
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