May 28, 2013 -- Updated 1413 GMT (2213 HKT)
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has joined human rights activists
in criticizing a two-child limit imposed on Muslim families by
authorities in areas of western Myanmar in an attempt to control their
population. FULL STORY
May 28, 2013 -- Updated 1413 GMT (2213 HKT)
Nobel peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi has joined human rights activists
in criticizing a two-child limit imposed on Muslim families by
authorities in areas of western Myanmar in an attempt to control their
population. FULL STORY
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May 28, 2013 -- Updated 1059 GMT (1859 HKT)
The ordering of the two-child limit is the latest measure taken against the Rohingya in Myanmar.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Myanmar's Rakhine State puts a two-child limit on Muslims in some areas
- Officials say it is necessary to control the population of the Rohingya minority
- But Aung San Suu Kyi and human rights activists say it violates human rights
- The Rohingya suffered heavily during communal violence with Buddists last year
The government of
Myanmar's Rakhine State, which borders Bangladesh, says the restriction
was ordered in two townships that have the biggest populations of
Rohingya -- a persecuted, stateless Muslim minority -- because of
concerns about their high birthrate.
"If they want to live
here, they have to follow the rules and orders of this state," Win
Myaing, spokesman for the Rakhine government, said Tuesday, referring to
the Rohingya. "If not, we can't live together tranquilly."
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Behind the violence in Myanmar
The ordering of the
two-child limit is the latest measure taken against the Rohingya, who
were the main victims in outbreaks of communal violence involving the
Buddhist majority in Rakhine last year. The clashes killed scores of
people and left tens of thousands of others living in makeshift camps.
Deadly ethnic unrest has
become a major challenge for the national government of President Thein
Sein, who has overseen a series of reforms over the past two years that
have moved Myanmar, which is also known as Burma, closer to democracy.
'Not in line with human rights'
"I think this is against
the law," Suu Kyi, who leads the opposition National League for
Democracy, said Monday in reference to the two-child limit on Rohingya
families.
"It's not good to have
such discrimination," she said after a meeting in Yangon, the country's
biggest city. "It is not in line with human rights."
It was her starkest
statement yet about the difficulties the Rohingya face, following
criticism that she hadn't spoken up strongly enough on the issue. Suu
Kyi said Monday she didn't know whether the two-child policy was
definitely being implemented or not.
The advocacy group Human
Rights Watch says the measure has been in place in areas of Rakhine
since 2005, one of multiple restrictions that make it difficult and
expensive for Rohingya to do things like get married or obtain birth
certificates.
Now, local authorities
appear to be exploiting a recent government-commissioned report on last
year's communal violence to reaffirm their commitment to limiting the
number of children Rohingya can have.
"I think it's profoundly
chilling," said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch
in Asia. "It's an indication of a larger persecution."
He said he was unaware
of any other country in Asia where one ethnic group sought to control
the birthrate of another through governmental regulations.
The official report on
the communal violence included the recommendation that family-planning
education be proposed to the Rohingya population in light of concerns
among Rakhine's Buddhist majority about the Rohingya birth rate.
But the recommendation
included the caveat that authorities should "refrain from implementing
nonvoluntary measures which may be seen as discriminatory or that would
be inconsistent with human rights standards."
Win Myaing, the Rakhine government spokesman, claimed the two-child limit doesn't violate human rights.
"This is the best way to control the explosion of the Muslim population in this region," he said.
Government silence
But Robertson disagreed. The Rakhine government "spews mistruths, saying that these people are overpopulating," he said.
Describing the two-child
policy as "discriminatory and an abuse of human rights," Robertson
called on Thein Sein, who recently met with President Barack Obama in
Washington, to say whether the national government supports the measure.
"It's a policy that's been hidden in the shadows," he said. "Now, it's time for the Burmese government to respond."
Thein Sein's spokesman, Ye Htut, and other government officials didn't respond to calls seeking comment on Tuesday.
The United Nations
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says that
Rakhine's population of about 800,000 Rohingya have suffered
restrictions on their human rights for decades. It describes them as
"one of the most persecuted peoples in the world."
Human Rights Watch has
described the violence in Rakhine last year and its aftermath as "a
campaign of government-supported crimes against humanity and ethnic
cleansing" targeting the Rohingya. The Myanmar government has disputed
that account as "one-sided."
Journalist Phyo Wai Lin and CNN's Kocha Olarn contributed to this report.
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