Thammasat University students are cordially invited to participate in a free Zoom public lecture about Citizenship in Myanmar – Past and Future.

The event will be held on Tuesday, 16 November starting at 9pm Bangkok time.

The Thammasat University Library collection includes many books about different aspects of life in Myanmar.

The event is hosted by Migration Mobilities Bristol (MMB), a Specialist Research Institute at the University of Bristol, the United Kingdom (UK).

As MMB’s website explains, it is

an interdisciplinary network of academics and others with diverse interests ranging from politics to film studies, sociology, history and law.

MMB offers a creative space to engage with migration in theory, policy and practice. By expanding and challenging understandings of migration and making connections between different types of mobilities, beyond the human and across time, we endeavour to contribute to a more just world.

As the event webpage notes,

Citizenship in Myanmar – Past and Future

A roundtable bringing together researchers working on issues of citizenship, statelessness and civil documentation among minority communities in Myanmar.

Myanmar’s ‘unofficial minorities’ – or those not recognized as belonging to one of the state’s 135 official ‘ethnic nationalities’ – face severe challenges and discrimination in accessing citizenship documentation and by extension, government services and rights including education, housing, and freedom of movement.

The citizenship and identity card system has functioned to maintain a system of segregation and apartheid for Rohingyas in Rakhine State. Elsewhere religious minorities including Muslims and Hindus, people mixed ethnic and religious backgrounds, internally displaced persons (IDPs) and returned refugees are amongst those that face discrimination in accessing citizenship documents and rights.

Speakers in this online roundtable will share recent research on citizenship and comment on ongoing threats faced by communities since the February 2021 military coup.

For further information or with any questions, kindly write to

mmb-sri@bristol.ac.uk

TU students may register for the event at this link.

The symposium will be chaired by Dr. Elizabeth Rhoads, Postdoctoral Fellow, Human Rights Studies/Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University.

The speakers will include Maung Zarni, activist and scholar, Fellow of the (Genocide) Documentation Centre, Cambodia, and coauthor of Essays on Mynamar’s Genocide of Rohingyas (2018), which is available to TU students through the TU Library Interlibrary Loan (ILL) service.

Other speakers will include Natalie Brinham, PhD student, Queen Mary University of London; Kathy Win, Research Fellow, SOAS, University of London; Aung Ko Ko, Graduate Student, Masters in Conflict Resolution and Coexistence, Brandeis University; Nan Tinilar Win, freelance researcher, based in Chiang Mai, Thailand; and Htike Htike, PhD researcher, SOAS, University of London.

Among extensive research on the subject of citizenship in Myanmar, the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) has posted on its website some publications available for free download, including a 2019 report, Citizenship and Human Rights in Myanmar: Why Law Reform is Urgent and Possible: A Legal Briefing.

It begins:

Myanmar’s legal framework for citizenship is incompatible with bedrock rule of law and democratic principles. In particular, the 1982 Citizenship Law is highly discriminatory and arbitrary, and manifestly fails to satisfy the State’s obligations under international human rights law. The result is a system that enables widespread discrimination throughout the country and undermines the rule of law.

The Government of Myanmar can and should enact reforms to citizenship law necessary to build an inclusive pluralist democratic society inline with human rights and the rule of law, primarily through initiating constitutional and legislative reforms.

Core principles of international law and the rule of law include non-discrimination, non-arbitrariness, the universality of human rights, and the right to equality before the law and to equal protection of the law without discrimination. All States are obliged to respect, protect and fulfill the human rights of every person on their territory or otherwise within their jurisdiction, without discrimination, including discrimination on the grounds of citizenship, nationality or migration status.

International human rights law intentionally does not limit rights protections to citizens. States’ obligations towards individuals do not depend on their particular legal status, except for a limited number of provisions explicitly applicable to special categories, which are generally limited to the right to vote, and to hold public office.

The 1982 Law, enacted by an unelected and xenophobic military government, embedded in legislation the concept of “national races…” Previously, the concept of “indigenous races” had existed in national law, since 1948. Section 3 of the 1982 Law attributes the “national races” to eight specific ethnic groups. The Law introduced a corresponding hierarchy of citizenship categories that effectively prescribes first-class and second-class citizens based on this framework. Members of “national races” are considered as (full) “citizens”, while others, including individuals with mixed ancestry, may be eligible for “associate citizenship” or “naturalized citizenship” … Under this law, the legal rights of associate and naturalized citizens are inferior, are subject to restrictions, and may also be subject to revocation.

The 1982 Law, and three related bylaws enacted in 1983, contain an unwieldy total of 26 chapters, with 251 sections and 51 forms.

The intentionally discriminatory character of the 1982 Law, and its equally discriminatory implementation in practice, partly explains why many residents lack a legal identity (more than 25 percent, according to the 2014 Census).  Under this system, many life-long residents of Myanmar have effectively been rendered stateless, including members of entire ethnic groups, and children of mixed ancestry.

While section 347 of the 2008 Constitution states “The Union shall guarantee any person [emphasis added] to enjoy equal rights before the law,” other constitutional provisions conflict with this, and with principles of international human rights law, by narrowly defining rights as being limited only to citizens. The State generally does not recognize its obligations to respect and to protect the rights of those who do not qualify for citizenship under domestic law, due to its discriminatory provisions and or application.

The resulting system institutionalizes discrimination on the basis of race or ethnicity. Second-class citizens, including persons colloquially labeled as “mixed blood,” experience varying types and degrees of discrimination, particularly in their dealings with the State, affecting nearly every aspect of life, from freedom of movement to registering marriages to accessing education. Discrimination and its effects are more acute for persons who are not recognized as citizens at all, based on their race or ethnicity. In addition, certain constitutional provisions restrict the rights of citizens who have an immediate relative (parent, spouse or child) who is not a citizen, including the right to stand for parliament or to become President.

This situation is compounded by a lack of access to justice in Myanmar, including the rights to judicial review, remedies and redress. This system severely undermines the ability to develop an inclusive democracy in line with the rule of law.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)