Non-Burmese people lose ethnic representation rights when registered as “Bamar”

August 14, 2020

HURFOM: Non-Burmese people living outside their ethnic region or in a self-administered area were widely registered as “Burman” (or Bamar) by the Immigration and National Registration Department, meaning they have lost their ethnic representation rights.

The implications of this practice is far-reaching.

“When collecting Mon population data (in Tenasserim Division) in 2013, we got more than 60,000 people and sent it to the particular government department before the 2015 election. But we didn’t get a seat for the Mon Ethnic Affairs Minister. They (the government) said only 30,000+ Mon people were on their list. So the seat for Mon Ethnic Affairs Minister couldn’t be granted. We’ve sent a report again in 2020, but a seat for Mon ethnic affairs minister in Tenasserim Division hasn’t been granted,” said Mi Ngwe Lay who works on data collection of the Mon population in Tenasserim Division.

According to Chapter 4, Article #161-B and C of the 2008 Myanmar Constitution, representatives for the Region/State Hluttaw, are elected from each national race. The formulae that are used to fulfill this constitutional directive is when a race constitutes 0.1 percent and above of the population of the Union.

According to the 2014 Myanmar census, the national population is more than 50 million persons, so a national race with a population of 50,000 people has the right to be granted an ethnic affairs representative seat for their region/State Hluttaw.

However, when the National Registration Card system (NRC) was introduced during the previous government, non-Burmese residents were intentionally registered under the “Burmese/Buddhist” category. Now, these individuals face difficulties in demanding their ethnic rights.

“There are thousands of the Mon population in Yangon but the Immigration Department has listed them as “Bamar”. We have to pass too many steps in order to re-register them as Mon people,” said Nai San Tin, Joint Secretary #2 of the Mon Unity Party (MUP).

Mon people in Yangon have also tried to get an Ethnic Affairs representative seat in the Yangon Region Hluttaw but have been unsuccessful.

Written by HURFOM · Filed Under News