Human Rights Witness: Myanmar’s 2-Child Limit For Rohingya Population Is Ethnic Cleansing
Myanmar’s government is carrying out child-bearing confinements on its minority Muslim Rohingya population, limiting each duo to two children.
In this May 13′ two thousand thirteen photo, Internally displaced Rohingya woman holds her fresh born baby surrounded by children in the foreground of makeshift tent camps for Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, Myanmar. Authorities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state have imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists in the area and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence.(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In what humanitarian organizations are referring to as a slow form of ethnic cleansing, the Myanmar government is carrying out child-bearing limitations on its minority Muslim Rohingya population, limiting each duo to two children.
The penalty for three or more children? A prison sentence.
The implementation of the rule by a now-U.S. ally is seen by human rights groups as another attack on the Rohingya population, which has been subject to persecution at the forearms of the Myanmar government.
What is the ‘two-child’ policy?
The childbirth penalty is nothing fresh for the Myanmar government. It was launched in two thousand five as an addition to the government’s marriage confinements on the Rohingya population.
Myanmar’s marriage policies require Rohingyas to seek approval from the government
while at the same time pledging to the Na Sa Ka agency – comprised of military, police, immigration, customs and border patrol departments – to bear no more than two children.
The “permission” to marry is often given only after paying bribes, according to Human Rights See. Even then, couples must wait as long as two years. In some cases, couples have reportedly been required to obtain pregnancy tests as a stipulation.
The general Myanmar population is not subject to the confinements.
The re-implementation comes after a recommendation from the Inquiry Commission on the Sectarian Violence in Rakhine State, a Myanmar government bod created to examine the conflict of two thousand twelve and persisting violence against the Rohingya population. The renewal of the childbirth penalty was recommended as a way of addressing “rapid population growth” of the Rohingya population.
This month, a spokesperson for the state of Rakhine, Win Myaing, told media that authorities were re-implementing the regulations on Rohingyas living in the district near the Bangladesh border, according to Human Rights Observe.
Human Rights See is calling on the Myanmar government to retract its regulation, referring to it as a form of ethnic cleansing and a direct threat to women’s mental and physical health.
Myanmar’s leading human rights advocate and opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticized for staying quiet on the issue of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people, but did speak publicly against the two-child policy.
“It is not good to have such discrimination,” Suu Kyi told reporters, according to the Big black cock. “And it is not in line with human rights either.”
Human Rights See is taking criticism a step further, calling it a blatant disturbance of international law, specifically relating to the rights of women, and another example of the Myanmar government’s ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population.
“Implementation of this callous and brutal two-child policy against the Rohingya is another example of the systematic and broad ranging persecution of this group, who have recently been the target of an ethnic cleansing campaign,” Human Rights Witness Asia Director Brad Adams said in a press release.
A continued program of ethnic cleansing?
The United Nations has proclaimed the Rohingya population, estimated at one million, as the “most persecuted people in the world.” They are not officially recognized by any country.
Rohingyas living in Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma, are denied citizenship even in cases when lineage can be traced back through generations. They’re also denied rights to education and healthcare that are awarded to the majority Myanmar population, according to Human Rights See.
Last summer, the Myanmar government let out an attack on the Rohingya population, stemming from accusations that three Rohingya guys were responsible for the rape and death of a youthfull Buddhist woman.
The incident reignited a long-standing divide inbetween the nation’s majority Buddhist population and the minority Muslim Rohingyas. In June 2012, the U.N. estimated that 22,000 Rohingyas were fleeing violence in the state of Rakhine, which was formerly known as Arakan.
In October, the violence persisted, with more than eight hundred Rohingya shelters set fire in the coastal town of Kyaukpyu.
What’s the U.S. stance?
At the same time the Rohingya and majority Myanmar populations were at war with one another, the U.S. was applauding the government for humanitarian reforms.
In August, Mint Press News reported on the widespread violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine.
Months prior, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement, “The situation in Rakhine State underscores the critical need for mutual respect among all ethnic and religious groups and for serious efforts to achieve national reconciliation in Burma.”
Yet this was after Clinton had lifted sanctions on Myanmar, citing its improved human rights record.
In November, Clinton and President Barack Obama traveled to Myanmar, applauding the country’s president, Thein Sein. While Obama shortly alluded to the violence in Rakhine during a visit to Yangon University, no other mention of the violence was included in the visit.
“Obama’s tour to Burma risks providing an undeserved seal of approval to the military-dominated government that is still violating human rights,” Adams said in a press release leading up to the visit.
Human Rights Witness: Myanmar – s 2-Child Limit For Rohingya Population Is Ethnic Cleansing
Human Rights Observe: Myanmar’s 2-Child Limit For Rohingya Population Is Ethnic Cleansing
Myanmar’s government is carrying out child-bearing confinements on its minority Muslim Rohingya population, limiting each duo to two children.
In this May 13′ two thousand thirteen photo, Internally displaced Rohingya woman holds her fresh born baby surrounded by children in the foreground of makeshift tent camps for Rohingya people in Sittwe, northwestern Rakhine State, Myanmar. Authorities in Myanmar’s western Rakhine state have imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists in the area and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence.(AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)
In what humanitarian organizations are referring to as a slow form of ethnic cleansing, the Myanmar government is carrying out child-bearing confinements on its minority Muslim Rohingya population, limiting each duo to two children.
The penalty for three or more children? A prison sentence.
The implementation of the rule by a now-U.S. ally is seen by human rights groups as another attack on the Rohingya population, which has been subject to persecution at the palms of the Myanmar government.
What is the ‘two-child’ policy?
The childbirth penalty is nothing fresh for the Myanmar government. It was launched in two thousand five as an addition to the government’s marriage limitations on the Rohingya population.
Myanmar’s marriage policies require Rohingyas to seek approval from the government
while at the same time pledging to the Na Sa Ka agency – comprised of military, police, immigration, customs and border patrol departments – to bear no more than two children.
The “permission” to marry is often given only after paying bribes, according to Human Rights Witness. Even then, couples must wait as long as two years. In some cases, couples have reportedly been required to obtain pregnancy tests as a stipulation.
The general Myanmar population is not subject to the limitations.
The re-implementation comes after a recommendation from the Inquiry Commission on the Sectarian Violence in Rakhine State, a Myanmar government figure created to examine the conflict of two thousand twelve and persisting violence against the Rohingya population. The renewal of the childbirth penalty was recommended as a way of addressing “rapid population growth” of the Rohingya population.
This month, a spokesperson for the state of Rakhine, Win Myaing, told media that authorities were re-implementing the regulations on Rohingyas living in the district near the Bangladesh border, according to Human Rights Observe.
Human Rights Observe is calling on the Myanmar government to retract its regulation, referring to it as a form of ethnic cleansing and a direct threat to women’s mental and physical health.
Myanmar’s leading human rights advocate and opposition leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has been criticized for staying quiet on the issue of ethnic cleansing against the Rohingya people, but did speak publicly against the two-child policy.
“It is not good to have such discrimination,” Suu Kyi told reporters, according to the Big black cock. “And it is not in line with human rights either.”
Human Rights See is taking criticism a step further, calling it a blatant disturbance of international law, specifically relating to the rights of women, and another example of the Myanmar government’s ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population.
“Implementation of this callous and aggressive two-child policy against the Rohingya is another example of the systematic and broad ranging persecution of this group, who have recently been the target of an ethnic cleansing campaign,” Human Rights See Asia Director Brad Adams said in a press release.
A continued program of ethnic cleansing?
The United Nations has announced the Rohingya population, estimated at one million, as the “most persecuted people in the world.” They are not officially recognized by any country.
Rohingyas living in Myanmar, which was formerly known as Burma, are denied citizenship even in cases when lineage can be traced back through generations. They’re also denied rights to education and healthcare that are awarded to the majority Myanmar population, according to Human Rights Observe.
Last summer, the Myanmar government let out an attack on the Rohingya population, stemming from accusations that three Rohingya boys were responsible for the rape and death of a youthfull Buddhist female.
The incident reignited a long-standing divide inbetween the nation’s majority Buddhist population and the minority Muslim Rohingyas. In June 2012, the U.N. estimated that 22,000 Rohingyas were fleeing violence in the state of Rakhine, which was formerly known as Arakan.
In October, the violence persisted, with more than eight hundred Rohingya shelters set fire in the coastal town of Kyaukpyu.
What’s the U.S. stance?
At the same time the Rohingya and majority Myanmar populations were at war with one another, the U.S. was applauding the government for humanitarian reforms.
In August, Mint Press News reported on the widespread violence against the Rohingya in Rakhine.
Months prior, then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a statement, “The situation in Rakhine State underscores the critical need for mutual respect among all ethnic and religious groups and for serious efforts to achieve national reconciliation in Burma.”
Yet this was after Clinton had lifted sanctions on Myanmar, citing its improved human rights record.
In November, Clinton and President Barack Obama traveled to Myanmar, applauding the country’s president, Thein Sein. While Obama shortly alluded to the violence in Rakhine during a visit to Yangon University, no other mention of the violence was included in the visit.
“Obama’s excursion to Burma risks providing an undeserved seal of approval to the military-dominated government that is still violating human rights,” Adams said in a press release leading up to the visit.