Rights groups condemn Myanmar’s Rohingya plan
US embassy and human rights groups question Myanmar government policy of housing Rohingya Muslims in detention camps if they fail to call themselves 'Bengali'
Human rights groups on Friday condemned a Myanmar government plan that could force thousands of minority Rohingya Muslims into detention camps indefinitely if they do not qualify for citizenship.
The US and some other embassies in Myanmar had raised their concern with the government about some aspects of the plan, a US official told reporters.
Most of Myanmar’s 1.1 million Rohingya Muslims live in difficult conditions in Rakhine state on the west coast of the predominantly Buddhist country, and almost 140,000 are displaced after deadly clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012.
The government has refused to grant most Rohingya citizenship and refers to them as Bengali, which implies they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh despite having lived in Myanmar for generations.
The Rakhine State Action Plan will require Rohingya to identify themselves as Bengali – a term most reject – in order to possibly receive citizenship.
According to a draft of the plan, the government has proposed that authorities “construct temporary camps in required numbers for those who refuse to be registered and those without adequate documents”.
Rights groups warn that the provisions could force thousands of Rohingya from their villages into camps where they would be detained indefinitely.
