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Burma has never been an easy place to conduct a head count. Dogged by protracted conflicts and populated by communities wary of outsiders, census-takers have had their work cut out in building an accurate dataset of a country rich in demographic diversity, but which for decades has largely been invisible to the world.
Thus the challenges that need broaching prior to a planned 2014 census are daunting. Early indicators were given in the country’s first nationwide census in 1891, five years after the British annexed Upper Burma – thousands had been displaced by colonial troops who fought to bring half the country under rule of the Empire, only adding to a fluid migration of communities that rendered internal boundaries meaningless. Upland tribes fiercely hostile to the presence of foreigners resisted classification, meaning that the majority of Shan state, for instance, was not counted (British expedition leaders risked joining the rows of skulls that adorned Wa villages, whom up until independence considered European heads coveted bounty).
While more than a century has since passed, some of these obstacles remain. Subsequent attempts by the administrative government to classify citizens have met with controversy, particularly over the issue of ethnicity – a 1931 census categorised all Burmese-speaking Buddhists living in Burma proper (Tenasserim, Irrawaddy, Pegu and Arakan regions) as Burman, sparking uproar from non-Burman who found their identity altered overnight.
Bar the 1960s and the dawn of military rule, bicennial surveys were carried out up until 1983, but the turbulent past 30 years brought this to a halt. Now however, plans are being hatched for a 2014 census, one that according to a pledge made by immigration minister Khin Yi “will adhere to global standards” and “include all national races”.
“Huge sensitivities surround the question of what it is to be a Burmese citizenHow exactly this will be achieved is unclear, and it may be Burma’s most challenging in decades, not least because the world’s eyes will, for the first time, be fixed on the conduct and outcome. Moreover, huge sensitivities surround the question of what it is to be a Burmese citizen, a debate that Khin Yi is all too familiar with. Like other ministers, he has drawn the ire of rights groups on several occasions over remarks that attempt to sideline ethnic minority groups, in his case the Rohingya in western Burma whom he dismissed in 2011 as illegal Bangladeshi immigrants not entitled to citizenship.
A joint letter signed by seven Rohingya organisations has already brought attention to the risks involved in the UN funding a potentially highly controversial project. The letter warned that President Thein Sein’s reform effort “has not touched the Rohingyas yet”, but rather that members of his inner circle, including Khin Yi and political advisor Ko Ko Hlaing, had further institutionalised persecution, with the latter saying that restrictions on the movement of the Rohingya were needed for “national security” reasons.
They were indeed excluded from the last census in 1983. Nine years earlier, the 1974 Emergency Immigration Act had been introduced to officially deny citizenship to the Rohingya, and in 1978, Operation Nagamin (Dragon King) was General Ne Win’s campaign to round up and expel Rohingya under the pretense of routing Mujahideen groups. Both were seen as a means to pave the way for a 1983 census in which Rohingya need not be counted.
While the Rohingya have faced a lengthy battle to “belong” in Burma (Rohingya babies born out of wedlock continue to be placed on blacklists that stop them from attending school and marrying), other ethnic groups have over time had mixed relations with the central government. Characterisations of minority populations in Burma are fluid, and often politicised – the Karen, for instance, who served in the British army in Burma, are described in a 1911 census report as originally arriving in Burma “peacefully, quietly, unobtrusively … avoiding all contact with the tribes they passed … preferring the hardship and obstacles of hills, jungles and uninhabited regions to the dangers of conflict with fellow humans”.
In contrast, successive military regimes since 1962, which have sought to subjugate the Karen and bring them under one flag, have portrayed them as hostile and violent. The majority of refugees residing in camps in Thailand are Karen, as are a significant chunk of the more than half a million internally displaced persons in eastern Burma. How can the government guarantee that a population whose itinerant state is politically and strategically driven will in two years be in a position to take part in a legitimate, internationally sanctioned census?
The hurdles that need to be overcome prior to 2014 are therefore sizeable. While a consortium of global voices hails a reforming government, there remains a cancerous malaise at the top – namely, the inability to accept non-Burman, or non-Buddhist, as equal citizens – that will invalidate any project of this kind. The UN, which “envisions the participation of all ethnic minorities and civil society” in both the census and a census committee, should keep a firm eye on the status of the Rohingya and other marginalised or displaced groups, otherwise it risks endorsing a characteristic of the government that has shown no sign of reform.
Please do not confuse Population Census with Civil Registration. Population Census counts all the people in the country at census time regardless of race, nationality or religion.
Excellent Article. Depend on officials and the forms for collecting the data. Some time races and religions are also mentioned in this kind of census.
Chinese and Indian has been in Burma for long time. But why Bengali in particular who arrived in British era are asking for a new name and ethnic rights? They wanted to take some lands from Burma and integrate them with Pakistan before independence. Using British arms, they waged holy war against Burmese; way before Bin Laden did against the west.
In Al Qaeda times, they got training from Taliban and Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
Burma’s Militarism, cronyism and Bengali Terrorism.
When Burma will be in peace, I wonder…
Thanks a lot Frances.In the name of Census the Junta used to create human tragedies in 1978 and 1991.During this times more than half million Rohingyas were mercilessly uproted at the gun points.
What Khin Yee would like to do in 2014 with UN money ??
Is he planning to wipe out the remaining Rohingyas from their motherland?
It was my wish that i want to know the population of Burma exactly including Rohingya.
natttharr:
at the moment, access to three townships in northern Arakan state is restricted for outsiders, even aid agencies. The UN (drawing on statistics from Burma’s immigration department) estimates that Maungdaw, Buthidaung and Rathedaung townships are home to some 730,000 Rohingya.
So, unless these tight restrictions are dropped, then a comprehensive census of the region cannot be achieved, and its inhabitants will remain invisible.
We should accept Rohingya as part of Burma. How can we neglect the suffering of people where else in every day prayer, we pray that all the beings big and small, seen or not seen may be happy and well. In fact when it comes to another human being , we are all blind and narrow minded.Remember that we are all human. Accept it and rohingya or whatever should be part of census and be part of Burma . Let them live life. Hypocrisy of majority Burmese.
Rohimgya are Bangladeshi and Burma will never recognized them as a race. 95% of people in Burma will say the same. Only people who support with blind eyes are muslim as a religious duty.
rohinga should be sent back to banga
accepting rohingya is a direct threat to national security and is a guarantee to wipe out Burmese peoples off the map.
If descendant of Bengali settled in Burma for generation after generation, they have the same right as citizen of Burma. They have the right to believe whatever religion they choose. They have every rights to be part of the society. Hence , the census should include everyone who resides within the boundary of Burma.Let them prosper and live. No complication & discrimination involved.
Rohingya problem is a result of Islam phobia. Most peoples in the area have no enough knoledg about this problem. It is problem of a nation divided into two countries, like other border areas in myanmar. All of ours knew this fcat that all minorties in Burma are in conflact with this two blind nations: Burmans and their brothers Moghs, who changes their names after every decad.
Rohingyas will be included in the population census once they learned to respect different religions and cultures of the land they longing for and will therefore be treated equally.
Rohingas never! Why does England not accept them to settle in england? After all they under cover of colonialism.
Canada, australia and US should also accept them. Haven’t they after all taken land form the native Americans? Now take the Rohingas with you.
Just becasue a Muslim takes a Burmese names partially, it does not make him Burmese.
Serious warning! Even christian English and French are deeply concerned about Muslim religious colonialism in Burma.
Burma used to be 98% Buddhist. what is it now? don’t keep sleep walking. Just because you hate the military of BSPP it does not mean that you have spite ful to Burmese heritage and culture.
Muslim men married Buddhist Burmese women and forcilby change them to Islam. Fact. Then all next generations become Muslim.
Fight back!Preserve our precisou Buddhist heritage and culture. It is the most beautiful. All European tourists admire Burmese people, not Bangladeshis.|Not even Thais. Don;t let Rohingas exploit our Buddisht tolerance.
Buddhist tolerance ????????? Do we ready to accept other human beings as purely human being. Please note that Burma does not belong to certain religion or group . It is a country where diversity should flourish. A country where everyone is accepted for being human regardless of race, ethnic group or religion. If all the buddhist are tolerance as mentioned by Myanmar Patriot, why should we accept someone who is in need for a place to live or strive. why should we be narrow minded. Come on, we are all human, please accept everyone . It should not base on religion or ethnics.
Rohingya is not an ethnic group. And never was in history either. People of Myanmar won’t accept them. If the west give pressure on us, the best way is to conduct a national referendum with international observers and let the world know what people of Myanmar think of this issue. This nation have the right to choose.
Dear “Myanmar Patriots” and others, as a “European tourist” I have to say I admire any person and culture who or which is respectfull towards other human beings and cultures. While in Myanmar I made friends with Christian Kayin, Buddhist Burmese,Shan and Ta’ang, as well as Hindu and Muslim “Bangladeshi”.
So, at least I as a tourist did not only admire the Buddhist traditions of Myanmar but also the cultural and ethnic diversity of your country.
According to Wikipedia, 87% of the population are Buddhist, only 3,6% are Muslim. That is less than in my country (Germany: 5%). So what’s the problem?
Even if there are problems between the different communities, hating and discriminating a minority surely is not the solution.
Correct me if I am wrong, but it seems to me this kind of talk and behaviour is in deep contradiction with the Buddhist Noble Eightfold Path and Buddhist ethics as taught by the Lord Buddha.
Nick and all,
Not only bulllying and belligerence or indeed killing is against the Buddhist tradition and teaching, it is plain stupid in a society if one wants to be peaceful.
Still for people on the ground ie. the Arakanese who at times feel intimidated by the people they regard as total aliens and feel lack of protection by the authotprities, the society then is based on suscipion and hostility.
The extension of this to other parts of the country is a bit of a different issue as there are no collective racial pockets isolated and large enough to intimidate other nearby citizens.
But the most unfortunate thing is the rise of openly and virulently racist and chauvinistic military and same opinion clique with full control of people’s economy, information and even religious and entertainment affairs.
There was never any effort to study the serious issue of either Rohingya or simple Burman- Muslim relationship and presentation, deliberation, debate and arbitration or solution.
Such measures are not only essential but important for the progress and prosperity of the country as a whole.
Unfortunately, there is no one wise enough or brave enough to handle the issue thereby letting it to smolder with outburst from time to time.
But at this time of social and financial uncertainty and difficulty, any little spark, not necessarily racial or religious, can cause larger and larger explosion.
It’s sad to know there are still quit a few xenophobic in Burmese population.
This is the year of 2012. Open up your eye and look at the world.
Democratic values belong to every one who lives in Burma.
Xenophobia was a weapon of Burmese Dictators to divide and rule.
Min Mueller,
Just because you use a german sounding name, it doesn;t make you one. And keep telling the lies and you might start beleieving ti yourself.