No plans to amend citizenship law: Thein Sein
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President Thein Sein and his government have no plans to amend the 1982 Myanmar Citizenship Law, he told Norwegian-based Democratic Voice of Burma during his visit to Oslo last month.
He was responding to a question about whether his government or Parliament planned to revise the law.
Thein Sein said he had learned that Norway granted citizenship to foreigners after they lived in the country for seven years, but different countries had different situations. Myanmar differed from Norway in terms of history and population, he added.
“At present, the government has no plan to amend the citizenship law. For the parliament, I don’t know what stance they have. The law has been written to protect our own country,” Thein Sein said.
Asked about Myanmar’s internal conflicts, he said ceasefires were not sufficient in the peace process and that political dialogue would be held soon.
The dialogue will be held not by a group representing the government but by all concerned, including members of parliament, civic organisations, national ethnic leaders and ethnic representatives, he said.
Thomas Quintana, the UN’s Human Rights envoy to Myanmar, last month called on Parliament to amend the law to give equal rights to all the country’s nationals.
The Rohingya people of Rakhine State were stripped of citizenship by the 1982 law have since been described by the UN as “one of the world’s most persecuted minorities”.
MPs, legal experts and representatives of ethnic groups responded that the law requires no amendments as it prevents an illegal influx of foreigners.
During a parliamentary session at the Upper House last November, the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party proposed amending the Citizenship Law. The proposal was shot down.
Minister for Immigration and Population Khin Yi told Parliament that it took more than six years to complete the current law and that it had been approved after receiving public support.
