Fair or unfair, Burmas census will drive violence and discrimination

By Francis Wade Feb 17, 2014

Next month the Burmese government will begin the countrys first nationwide census since the early 1980s !s "re"aration for the start date on #0 $arch gets underway, several grou"s have highlighted their concerns about how the census could wor% to further inflame violent nationalism and exclude minority grou"s &he 'nternational (risis )rou" released a strong briefing last wee% that covers various im"ortant issues associated with the census, focusing in "articular u"on the re*uirement to list religion and ethnicity + a real danger at "resent given the recent violence directed towards the countrys $uslim "o"ulation, and the ,ohingya minority in "articular !s the '() briefing notes, the "roblems are manifold, and affect all of the countrys ethnic grou"s -the number of which is contested. 't says that minorities will only be allowed to field re"resentatives for local government if their "o"ulation, as recorded by the census, is above a certain number /)rou"s fear that if their communities are subdivided or misclassified, they may be denied that "olitical re"resentation &here is no "ossibility to re"ort mixed ethnicity, forcing "eo"le into a single identity, to the "otential disadvantage of some smaller grou"s 0

Smoke and flames billow from a burning building set ablaze during sectarian violence in eik!tila last year" #ic$ %#"

't also ma%es a %ey "oint on the issue of how the census, even if carried out accurately and fairly -namely, allowing minority grou"s to record their identity according to what they believe it to be., could fuel anti1$uslim sentiment /(urrently, it is widely believed that $yanmars 2Burma3 "o"ulation is 4 "er cent $uslim, a figure re"orted in the 198# census 5owever, there are strong indications that the real figure collected then was over 10 "er cent, but that a "olitical decision was ta%en to "ublish a more acce"table figure of 4 "er cent &he results of the current census could therefore be mista%enly inter"reted as "roviding evidence for a three1fold increase in the $uslim "o"ulation in the country over the last #0 years, a "otentially dangerous call to arms for extremist movements 2em"hasis added3 0 &here is also the issue of whether ,ohingya will be allowed to label themselves as ,ohingya 6arious rights grou"s have said the census should be sus"ended until this category is included, or until the government agrees to remove the demand that ethnicity be listed, lest it inflame an already tense situation But some worrying comments on this matter have been made by 7hin 8i, who is heading u" the census -and who, incidentally, "layed a %ey role in orchestrating the military crac%down on "rotestors in 900:, when he was "olice chief in 8angon. 5e has already said that /,ohingya0 will not be an o"tion on the ethnicity list 5ere he is *uoted recently in local media; &hey say that their race is ,ohingya <hen a "erson says that his race is /B0, because he doesnt want to mention his race as /!0, that means that race /!0 no longer exists, but the race /B0 is a new race =ince race /B0 is a new race, there will be *uestions, such as /how did the race enter -the country.>0 or /are they encroaching here>0 <hen things become radical, ' worry that it could harm "eace and stability ? <e will record what the "erson says 'f he says /!0 then we will fill the form as /!0 &he result will be, li%e ' said before, that even if that term /!0 is ,ohingya, we will not recogni@e ,ohingya as one of the 1#A ethnic grou"s in $yanmar 2em"hasis added3 0 -$B,C; (risis grou" warns against Burma census. 'ts not Dust minority $uslims who stand to lose out in the census Bn a recent tri" to southern (hin state ' met a young Ba"tist man who had been struc% off the family registration list in his remote village by Buddhist elders who demanded he convert to Buddhism 5e has already been bloc%ed from using services in his village + including buying food and water + and has been told by the elders that hell be "revented from ta%ing "art in the census, of which he said family registration is a re*uirement 5is ex"erience, and that of hundreds of thousands of others, shows that religious "ersecution isnt Dust about religion + ones beliefs are being used to determine who and who isnt Burmese &he EN Fo"ulation Fund -ENFF!., which is "roviding assistance for the census, is now in a tric%y "osition + its involvement ostensibly lends su""ort to a "roDect that could soon institutionali@e and ma%e official a "olicy of discrimination towards minorities that the EN itself has critici@ed &he EN s"o%es"erson said in res"onse to a

Dournalists recent *uestion on the issue that it was /su""orting the )overnment to ensure that the census is fully inclusive and conducted according to international standards0 But still, as 7hin 8i made clear, even if res"ondents are allowed to record the identity of their choosing, it will ultimately matter little + the Ba"tist man in (hin state may not even be allowed to fill out the form, and the ,ohingya will still be regarded as non1citi@ens, and therefore stateless !s the '() further notes, /some extremist ,a%hine "olitical actors undoubtedly fear that the census would establish a baseline ,ohingya "o"ulation that would ma%e it more difficult to sustain the narrative of recent migration in the future 0 'n light of all this its clear that a sus"ension of the census is necessary, given that carrying it out now in any form will worsen a fragile situation + if it is done fairly, it could antagoni@e ultra1nationalist Buddhists who see other religions, whether they be $uslim or (hristian, as non1Burmese, and li%ely s"ur greater violenceG if done unfairly, in its current form, it will disenfranchise minority grou"s and deny them "olitical and civil rights for the foreseeable future