Rakhine data puts 'Bengali' population above 1 million
The Rakhine State government has released figures on the ethnic makeup of the strife-torn state, which shows that its Bengali population comprises more than one-third of the total, and is the majority population in one of the state's four districts.
Official figures put the state’s population at 2.95 million, of whom 1.05 are Bengalis and 1.9 are officially recognised ethnic groups, primarily ethnic Rakhine.
Almost half of the Bengali population lives in the northernmost district, Maungdaw, where communal conflict between Bengalis and ethnic Rakhine people erupted in 2012. Bengalis are the overwhelming majority in both of the district’s townships. In Maungdaw Township they number 486,768, while ethnic Rakhine number 23,446. In Butheetaung Township they number 251,903, with ethnic Rakhine number 40,496, according to the state government’s figures.
Sittwe District has a population of 687,922, comprising 483,088 ethnic Rakhine and 204,834 Bengalis. Most of the Bengalis are in Sittwe Township, which has 136,435 Bengalis and 94,934 ethnic Rakhine residents. Most of the Bengalis in this township live in camps for internally displaced people, following the deadly conflict that erupted in 2012.
In Myanmar Bengalis are considered illegal migrants from the area known as West Bengal during British colonial rule. It is now Bangladesh, an independent country that like Myanmar does not recognise the “Rohingya” as citizens, leaving them stateless.
The UNHCR's data showed that over 800,000 persons are estimated to be without citizenship in the northern part of Rakhine State. In addition, the majority of the internally displaced people (IDPs) are also believed to be without citizenship.
According to the Rakhine State government’s data, the populations of Kyaukphyu and Thandwe districts remain predominantly ethnic Rakhine. Kyaukphyu’s population of 429,427 comprises 418,280 ethnic Rakhine and 11,147 Bengalis, while Thandwe’s population of 325,807 comprises 317,807 ethnic Rakhine and about 8,000 Bengalis.
The former military government established 27 new villages between 1991 and 2006 in Maungdaw Township and eight villages between 1991 and 2000 in Butheetaung Township, according to official records.
The state is Myanmar’s second poorest, despite its offshore oil and gas reserves and strategic access to the Bay of Bengal. It has just five factories and mills, most of which are state-run.
The state government released the population figures in response to a question from MP Hla Swe in the Union Parliament.
The Myanmar government recently kicked off a campaign where
