Analysis of The Burmese Citizenship Act, 1982

General Ne Win can in power in 1962 and along with his

relatives proposed the Citizenship Act of 1982, which was the

most malicious and discriminatory law to be passed in the

history of mankind.

Clearly violates the Article 15 of the Universal Declaration Of

Human Rights, which states the right to nationality of an

individual. Lack of full citizenship rights means that the

Rohingya are subject to other abuses, including restrictions on

their freedom of movement, discriminatory limitations on

access to education, and arbitrary confiscation of property.

There are three categories of citizens in this 1982 Citizenship

Law of Burma. They are: Citizens, Associate Citizens and

Naturalized citizens.

Full citizenship is restricted to nationals of specific ethnic

groups who settled in Burma prior to 1823.Burma does not

consider the Rohingya to be a national ethnic group. The

Rohingya are therefore excluded from full citizenship.

Associate citizenship only applies to individuals who had

already applied for citizenship under the Union Citizenship Act

1948.

Naturalised citizenship may be applied for by individuals (and

their offspring born within Burma) who can furnish “conclusive

evidence” that they entered and resided in Burma prior to 4

January 1948. This also effectively excludes almost all

Rohingya, since they are in practice unable to furnish the

conclusive evidence required.

The section 4 of the Act states that The Council of State may

decide whether any ethnic group is national or not and section

Violation of the UN convention in the Rights Of Child which

ensures nationality by birth.

Denial of citizenship to the Rohingya when the certificate of

citizenship was issued on the grounds of low evidence.

Changes to this act

The 1982 citizenship law should be amended to reflect basic

principles of human rights, including equality and non-

discrimination. The changes could include:

Citizenship at the date of commencement of the new

act: With the commencement of the new act all the Rohingya

will be given immediate citizenship and a strict count will be

maintained in order to ensure that people do not sneak into

the country.

Citizenship by birth: Every person born in Myanmar

irrespective of his religion, caste, and culture should be given

citizenship and will be called citizens of the country.

Citizenship by descent: The descendants of the ancestors

who lived in Burma will be given citizenship with evidence and

no discrimination will be made on these grounds.

Citizenship by migration: The citizens who have migrated to

Burma a long time ago will be given citizenship and they will

therefore be protected by certain rights and will have some

fundamental rights and duties.

Citizenship for Married women: Married woman will be

allowed citizenship and they will be treated equally on all

grounds.

Providing citizenship is not the only change required in this act there

are several other areas that need amendments mainly relating to

the human rights of the people in the country.

The right to free movement-The minority groups were not

allowed to move freely and therefore this must be changed.

Right to education –The Rohingya must be given the right to

education and no form of discrimination must take place in

this regard.

Freedom of choice- The Rohingya Muslims should have the

freedom of choice to decide their livelihood and their property

must not be taken from them.

Freedom of religion and minority rights-The rights of the

minorities must be protected and certain quotas must be

made for them to ensure equal opportunity. These citizens

must also be given the choice to choose the religion of their

own.

Freedom of speech and political freedom-Many cases

have occurred in the past where free speech was curbed and

reporters were even arrested. This must not be practiced and

everyone should be able to express their own views.

Children’s Rights-The rights of the children must be

protected and they just be given citizenship as soon as they

are born. These children must be provided education as well.

Human trafficking-The government should have strict laws

against human trafficking, which is said to be one of the

biggest problems in the country.

Implications Of The Changes

Implementation Method

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