40 Bengalis granted citizenship
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Sittwe - Forty Bengalis in Myebon Township have been granted citizenship and 169 more will be entitled to citizenship, according to Rakhine State chief minister Maung Maung Ohn.
The citizenship scheme was kicked off last year, starting in the township in Rakhine State, following growing international criticisms against Myanmar’s neglect of the stateless. Still, the chief minister insisted that the citizenship would be granted only to Bengalis, not those who call themselves Rohingya.
“Our procedures to make registration cards in Rakhine State are for Bengalis only,” he said. “We have no arrangements to give registration cards for those who call themselves ‘Rohingyas’.
He added that the pilot project in Myebon Township showed that residents accepted the term ‘Bengali’.
“Many foreigners asked us if we will keep those who call themselves ‘Rohingyas’ in separate camps or what plans we will make for them. We will not keep them in separate camps. However, those who have citizenship will have citizen’s rights,” he said.
His remark followed concerns that the Bengalis who have been granted citizenship will come into conflict with Rohingyas who live in the same camps.
He said only those who had citizenship would have citizen’s rights. The international community was concerned about the government keeping Bengalis in separate camps, but this would not happen, he added.
Rohingyas are not allowed to move around the rest of the state as Rakhine ethnics are said to distrust them.
Living standards in the Rakhine State are lower than elsewhere in the union.
Many ethnic Rakhine villagers live in worse conditions than Bengalis in refugee camps, with no water and electricity and poor sanitation.
