Buddhists want to expel Muslim minority

THOUSANDS OF MONKS and their supporters held a two-day protest on 2 September, showing support for Burma's President Thein Sein and his proposal to deport the Rohingya Muslim minority group to any third country.

It was the largest mass movement of Burma's Buddhist monks since September 2007 when a popular, monk-led uprising enveloped the entire nation.

The pro-president rally was launched in Burma's second biggest city, Mandalay, in central Burma. Despite being dominated by Buddhists, the Southeast Asian country is in fact a multi-ethnic nation with diverse religions and traditions.

In July, President Thein Sein said that Burma was willing to ship all Rohingya to any country willing to take them. The proposal was rejected by the UN refugee agency, saying that Rohingya are not qualified by the UN High Commission for refugee's resettlement program.

The rally also criticized UN human rights envoy to Burma, Tomás Ojea Quintana, because he highlighted the plight of Rohingya Muslim during his trip to Burma in early August as part of his assessment of communal violence that erupted in June between Arakanese Buddhist and Rohingya Muslim.

The communal violence that erupted in Arakan State, western Burma, left at least 80 people dead and tens of thousands became homeless and displaced. The violence began with the rape and murder in May of a Buddhist Arakanese girl, allegedly by three Rohingya Muslims. In response, a Buddhist mob killed 10 Muslims on 3 June, leading to intense violence between Rohingyas and Arakanese.

The violence escalated on 8 June when a mob of 1,000 Muslims went on a rampage and had to be restrained by Burmese armed troops.

Witnesses in Mandalay said the Buddhist monks held a banner saying, “Save your motherland, Myanmar, by supporting the president.”

“This protest is to support the president’s stand on the Rohingya issue,” U Wirathu, a prominent Buddhist monk at Ma Soe Yein Monastery in Mandalay who led the protest told "The Irrawaddy", a leading Burmese news agency based in Thailand.

Protesters wore T-shirts with a photo of President Thein Sein and a “tick” on the front. A picture of the UN envoy Quintana was crossed out on the back.

The protesters also complained about international interference in the sectarian violence in Arakan State, especially by the UN. They said the UN is unfair in treating victims—giving favor to the Rohingya Muslim community while sidelining the plight of Arakanese Buddhists.

During his trip to Burma, Quintana raised concerns about discrimination against the Rohingya, including the denial of citizenship and restrictions on their freedom of movement and right to marry.

“I hope that steps will be taken to address these issues, including a review of the 1982 Citizenship Act to ensure that it is in line with international human rights standards,” Quintana told reporters in Rangoon.

According to the 1982 Citizenship Law enacted by former dictator Gen Ne Win, Burma recognizes three categories of citizens—full citizen, associate citizen and naturalized citizen.

Full citizens are descendants of residents who lived in Burma prior to 1823 or were born to parents who were citizens at the time of birth. Associate citizens are those who acquired citizenship through the 1948 Union Citizenship Law. Naturalized citizens refers to persons who lived in Burma before Jan 4 1948 and applied for citizenship after 1982.

The Rohingya are not counted in any of these categories.

However, critics say that the 1982 citizenship law violates several fundamental principles of international customary legal standards, offends the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and leaves the Rohingya people exposed without any formal protection of their rights.

According to Article 15 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “everyone has the right to a nationality” and “no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his nationality nor denied the right to change his nationality.”

Evne though the Rohingya Muslim community has been living in Burma for decades, they are not recognized as an indigenous and are not granted national identity cards. They were banned from traveling within the country, and they must request the permission of Burmese authorities in order to marry.

Burma considers the Rohingya illegal migrants who came from Bangladesh, but Bangladesh also rejects them as their citizens. The estimated 800,000 Rohingya who live in Burma are considered one of the world’s most persecuted groups, according to the UN.

Maung Maung, a Muslim resident in Mandalay said while Burma is moving toward becoming a democratic nation, racial and religious discrimination often turns into communal violence, and can be an obstacle for political reform in Burma.

“There will be no problem if we see each other as human beings and ignore religion. I think a person ought to be a citizen of a nation where he or she was born. They must be granted citizenship,” said Maung Maung.

He said that it is still hard for an Islamic believer to acquire citizenship in Burma, even in this modern era of globalization.

We will fall behind if we hold on to such “conservative manners,” he added.