Myanmar forcing Rohingya to accept ‘foreigner’ label
A human
rights organization says Myanmarese authorities are forcing members of the
persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority to accept identity cards that strip
them of the chance to become citizens.
In a report published on Tuesday,
Fortify Rights said that the National Verification Card (NVC) scheme
targeting Rohingya Muslims was part of a systematic campaign
by Myanmarese authorities to erase their identity.
The government has coerced Rohingya
to accept the NVCs, “which effectively identify Rohingya as ‘foreigners,’” the
group said.
The report, titled “Tools of Genocide,” also
said Myanmarese authorities used torture and abuse to force Rohingya into
accepting the verification cards.
“These findings demonstrate that the
NVC process has not been a response to the crisis in Rakhine State, as the
government suggests, but rather a fundamental part of the crisis,” it added,
referring to the state where the Rohingya had been concentrated before hundreds
of thousands of them fled state-sponsored violence to neighboring Bangladesh.
The group also says “citizenship
scrutiny” processes have progressively limited their rights, including freedom
of movement, access to education, and freedom of expression.
Matthew Smith, the group’s chief
executive officer, also said, “The Myanmar government is trying to destroy the
Rohingya people through an administrative process that effectively strips them
of basic rights.”
The United Nations Independent
Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar also found an increase in pressure on the
Rohingya to accept the NVC in the months leading up to August 2017.
More than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims
fled Rakhine to neighboring Bangladesh following a military-led crackdown in
2016 that the UN has said was perpetrated with “genocidal intent.”
Thousands of Rohingya Muslims were
killed, injured, arbitrarily arrested, or raped by Myanmarese soldiers and
Buddhist mobs mainly between November 2016 and August 2017.
The latest development comes days
after a second failed attempt to repatriate the refugees from Bangladesh.
Citizenship is at the heart of
Rohingya demands for a return to Myanmar.
The Rohingya have inhabited
Rakhine for centuries, but the state denies them citizenship. Bangladesh
refuses to grant them citizenship, too.
Comments
Post a Comment