Over 1m in Rakhine left out of census

More than a million people in Rakhine State refused to take part in the census earlier this year because they were not permitted to call themselves “Rohingya”.

The census could not be completed in some parts of the western state – in Maungdaw, Sittwe and Myrauk-U townships – because local people classified as “Bengalis” objected to that the term, and census organisers sought to avoid possible violence, an initial report by the Ministry of Immigration and Population said.

The number of people who did not participate in the census was 1,090,000, according to the ministry’s report. Preliminary results of the national census were revealed at a press conference in Yangon on Saturday.

Immigration and Population Minister Khin Yi said: “Not accepting to be part of the census goes against the census law. The aim of conducting a census is to help development of the state – it is not to disrupt the rule of law. If we consider taking action [over this], it concerns a large number of people, not one or two. The government is placing emphasis on peace and tranquility.”

Myint Kyaing, director-general of the Ministry of Immigration and Population, said: “The Bengalis holding Bengali white cards demanded to be accepted as ‘Rohingya’ politically. For that reason, conducting the census could not be carried out in the densely populated Bengali areas.

“The answer is simple. They are holding Bengali household lists and white cards. They were recorded on our list. We will tell the people that they couldn’t be part of the nationwide census as we did not officially collect population figures for them,” the director-general said.

The census was also not conducted in 97 of the 2,700 villages in Kachin State. The authorities gave estimates of the number of people in areas where the census could not be conducted because it is under control of the Kachin Independence Army.

The final census data, reviewed for the first time in 30 years, will be released in May 2015.

The first comprehensive census was conducted in 1973 – when the Burma Socialist Programme Party was in power. It was also the first census since the country gained independence. In 1983, the preliminary figure for the national population put at over 35.3 million.

Figures collected in 1983 showed Myanmar’s population rose by nearly 7 million over the previous 10 years. But census programmes were stopped after that for numerous reasons. However, from 1991, surveys have been conducted in regions and states every five years, with calculations of basic birth and death rates, population totals, children in education and other statistics. This information led to estimates that the population had reached 61.57 million by 2013, the Central Census Commission said.

The initial results showed that Myanmar had 51,419,420 people – as of midnight on March 29 – including government employees of Myanmar embassies overseas, according to the census commission. 

Immigration and Population Minister Khin Yi on Saturday said that students studying abroad and migrant workers were not included in preliminary data. Against Myanmar’s earlier announcement that the population was over 61 million, he admitted that the figure was based on the last census in 1983. It was compiled based on projection that were in turn based on sales of birth and death rates in each state and region. 

He noted that if the number of migrant workers were 4 million, the population would rise to 55 million. He admitted that families were asked to specify the number of members working or learning overseas, but the data may be inaccurate. He said this would have to wait until the process of reviewing all questionnaires is complete. 

“We don't know how many people are abroad. But, I don’t think the population would be 60 million,” he said.

Khine Khine Soe, a director at the ministry, said: “The 60 million population figure was only an estimate. We estimated birth and death rates. We did not include the ‘migration out’ [of the country] in our estimation. The current census results that we have announced do not include international migration. So, the population was 60 million until it was announced yesterday. But, the [former] census may be wrong. However, we need to take this 51.4 million as a definite total. We will get the data for the people living abroad by May 2015.”

Political observers warn that the results of the census may have disturbing implications for next year’s election. A smaller than expected number of people have the right to vote, and if the announcement of poll results is delayed there are fears that some groups tamper with the results. They say it is imperative that the complete census results are publicly released in detail before 2015.