Burmese Language
Travel restrictions for Muslims loosened
Muslims in five principal townships in western Burma have been granted permission by the immigration department to travel freely, providing they carry ID cards.
The decision comes nine months after the elections last year and campaign pledges by the eventual winner, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), that it would increase mobility for Burma’s long-persecuted Muslim minority.
A man in Arakan state’s Sandoway said that the decision may be related to letter sent to the government by residents of the town in which they complained that the civil rights ascribed in the 2008 constitution, which was adopted when the new government came to power in March, were not being recognised.
Until recently Muslims in Arakan state were required to get permission from their local authorities before travelling outside of designated regions, regardless of whether they had ID or an alien residency permit.
But in April this year, authorities stopped granting permission, meaning that large communities were banned from moving around outside of their townships.
“We are happy about this,” the Sandoway man said of the latest development. “We have been struggling with health, money, social and education issues for about 20 years.
“We are happy that the government, who now sympathises with our woes, is recognising us as Burmese civilians and protecting our rights. It is important for us to be responsible and good citizens so we won’t lose these rights again.”
Muslims have long been persecuted by the Buddhist government in Burma; the ethnic Rohingya minority in particular is denied any sort of legal status and hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh.
The government claims that four percent of Burmese are practising Muslims, but the US state department, which has labelled Burma one of the world’s most religiously intolerant states, claims the figure could be considerably higher.
Following a report in early 2010 by UN Special Rapportuer to Burma Tomas Ojea Quintana that claimed the Burmese government had been persecuting Muslims, the then-ruling junta began issuing identity cards to the Rohingya.
Various rights groups have warned that the Burmese government is attempting to rid the country of Muslims by making their lives in Burma unbearable; up to 400,000 Rohingya are living as refugees in Bangladesh, which has also been reluctant to grant them any sort of registration.
Tags: burma, muslim, myanmar, religious persecution, rohingya
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Let us try to observed more right and we have not forget other city and other places around Arkan state,people are facing same problem of travel. Travelling is very small issue fro a citizenship. We are lack of more right which we deserve. Keep work hard and have to more struggle to gain our right.
It is very good for Rohingya .i think the new gov are a weakking now.
General Aung San was a wise man back in 1947 he added the right of freedom of religion for all Burmese to the constitution regardless of there faith….RIGHTS RELATING TO RELIGION
20. All persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess and practise religion subject to public order, morality or health and to the other provisions of this Chapter.
Explanation 1. – The above right shall not include any economic, financial, political or other secular activities that may be associated with religious practice.
Explanation 2. – The freedom guaranteed in this section shall not debar the State from enacting laws for the purpose of social welfare and reform.
21. (1) The State recognizes the special position of Buddhism as the faith professed by the great majority of the citizens of the Union.
(2) The State also recognizes Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Animism as some of the religions existing in the Union at the date of the coming into operation of this Constitution.
(3) The State shall not impose any disabilities or make any discrimination on the ground of religious faith or belief.
(4) The abuse of religion for political purposes is forbidden; and any act which is intended or is likely to promote feelings of hatred, enmity or discord between racial or religious communities or sects is contrary to this Constitution and may be made punishable by law. 5
It is the postive step since 1989.But we have to wait to say before exactly .
nothing is forever, time will come for change, slowly slowly all will be okay, we cant think to get everything fast in one week or one month. God bless all burmese people
It is a very welcoming news for all Rohingyas who have been struggling severely for their survival due to the movement restrictions that spoiled their education, business, jobs and others forcing them to flee the country.
It is a very heartbreaking things whenever you visit Arakan state and see all those discrimination in front of your own eyes. Treatment of human being is very inhuman simply because of being Muslim. Totally unacceptable. Burma is not only belongs to majority Bama and Buddhist. Everyone , regardless of color, religion and language should able to live and strive without any prejudice and discrimination. After all we are here in this life just for very short span of life. May every beings be happy and well.
I wish to visit Kentung, ITatchileck I was told to take a guide at 1000 Bht a day I cannot afford this so the Myanmar Govt will loose one more tourist.
Recently, there was an attempted rape case of a young Marma girl (or Arakanese girl) in Chittagong Hilltrack by five Bengali settlers (they are settlers becoz previously there had never been Bengalese in the areas). Relatives of this young poor girl, including her grandfather, tried to free her from the grab of these five racists. At the end, three Marma people including old one were brutally killed with her grandfather being beheaded. Luckily this young girl managed to escape while there was intense melee. Many similar cases are common daily issues around this Chittagong hills. I am an Arakanese named Tin Aung Hla and I feel very anguished and left outraged about this extremely inhuman murder. One Bangali-American writer commented that while he has been trying to condemn Israel govt for killing Palestinians and US’s complicit, he is now very ashamed that this case happened to a Buddhist community in BD committed by some Muslims. To read and view gruesome images, please go to unheardvoice.net or Daily Stars newspaper of BD. Should we do the same in Arakan on Muslims by our Buddhist fellows? Now you can find sizable Bengalese Muslim communities across Burma, from Shan, Kachin, Karen to you name them, migrating from Arakanland. Burmese regime, as part of its nature, always show false statistics regarding their population, further compounded by lack of unsystematic recording and update. Ok, please let me stop here becoz if I write this issue seems endless. My point is that every country has its own nationalism and we, as a Buddhist, know very well what human rights and freedom of religion means about when we are in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia or even Bangladesh. Thank you.
The law is an arse especially in a country like Burma where Buddhist people in position are above the law nine times out of ten. And countries like USA and UK are just paying lip services to those oppressed.
Change will surely come. These people at their enclaves in naypyidaw and their overseas lackeys will gradually be replaced. Nothing lasts forever.
I completely agree with Ta Hla. While the western nations are very vocal in protecting the rights of the so called Rohingyas, they are completely silent in protecting the rights of the Buddhist minorities in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), Bangladesh. The fact is, so called Rohingyas are Bengali Muslims who were brought to Arakan by the British from Bangladesh and the Buddhists in CHT are indigenous to CHT whose land was illegally grabbed by Pakistan in 1947. Bangladesh is waging a mother of all genocides in CHT, yet you never hear western government’s protesting. Why is this silence? It may be because Buddhist countries do not have equivalent of Organization of Islamic Conference, it may be because Buddhists do not do terrorism in the name of religion.
Burmese government is making a very unwise decision by giving the Muslims the freedom of movement. These illegal alients do not have any right to enter Burma, let alone move within the country. Do the Muslim countries give the no-Muslim aliens the right to settle in their countries. I don’t think so. The Burmese government does not have the popular support. That’s why it’s exposed to outside pressure and giving in to Muslim demand. For CHT news please visit-
“http://www.angelfire.com/ab/jumma”