November 21 2013
M Media
Maung Pu Nya
The General Assembly’s human rights committee passed a resolution urging the Myanmar government to give the stateless Rohingya minority equal access to citizenship and to crack down on Buddhist violence against them and other Muslims in the southeast Asian nation.
The resolution was passed by consensus of all member countries on Tuesday. Spokeperson for the President and Deputy Minister of Information U Ye Htut told the press of the government’s stand against this resolution.
He wrote on his Facebook page that, “the government position on this issue is that we don’t accept the term “Rohinhya”. Among Bangalis living in Rakhine state, anyone who is eligible to be a Myanmar citizen under 1982 citizenship law will get access to citizenship. However we won’t give citizenship to those who are not eligible in spite of whoever is forcing us to grant them citizenship. This is our sovereignty. Western democratic countries including American, Britain also have their own citizenship laws and regulations. They won’t grant citizenship to anyone who is not eligible under these laws regardless of whatever international organization is urging them.
The same applies to us. Also, I believe that UNGA’s human rights committee should point out that Bangalis fail to cooperate with the Ministry of Immigration and population in the ongoing registration process.”
