Myanmar Stop Verification Status of Muslim Minority Residents

Myanmar Stop Verification Status of Muslim Minority Residents

The Myanmar government has suspended a pilot project to verify the citizenship status of the Muslim minority in Rakhine state.

Rohingya Muslim minority living in a refugee camp in Sittwe, Rakhine State, Myanmar (Photo: dock).

Chief Minister of the state of Rakhine, Maung Maung Ohn told VOA Thursday (5/2) that since the program started last year, only 40 Muslims were granted citizenship and more than 200 people were granted citizenship while because only those who identify themselves as Bengali received .

Most Muslims in the state call themselves Rohingya, a term rejected by the government, which considers the Rohingya as illegal immigrants from Bangladesh and referred to them as "Bengali." Officials have said the verification process conducted by the Act of 1982 which prohibits the use of citizenship registration Bengali Rohingya term instead.

For several years, various human rights groups have criticized the government's policy that refused citizenship for Rohingyas and restrict their movement.

Violence between citizens Buddhist majority and Muslim minority in Myanmar has killed more than 240 people and forced about 140,000 people left the house since 2012. Most of the people who died and the homeless are Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state. (VOA)