Members of the Rohingya minority in Arakan (Rakhine) State continue to experience severe legal, economic and social discrimination.

The government denies citizenship status to most Rohingyans on the grounds that their ancestors allegedly did not reside in the country at the start of the British colonial rule, as required by the countrys highly restrictive citizenship law. The six main features to define the reality of Rohingyas ethnic nationality redefined bye the author following Smith (1986:6) 1are : fitsly, a common proper name ( Rohingya, some of these Muslims want to be called Arakan Muslims). Second, a myth of common descent ( it it linked with the real existence of the powerful kingdom of Arakan).Third, a link with a homeland (Arakan, noe the Rakhine state). Fouth, collective historical memory (Arakan History).fifth, one or more elements of common culture (Arakanese, Arab and Chittagonian mixed cultures). Lastly, a (real) sense of silidatiry (This sense of solidatary is strong among all Arakanese Muslim) The lack of citizenship.The Muslim Rohingya are officially an alien and illegal community, not listed as one of the 135 recognized ethnic nationalities in Burma2, and thus the majority of them are not entitled to national identity cards. Despite this, those who flee and are deported back to Burma are often imprisoned for leaving the country illegally. In their absence, their names are removed from Burmas draconian household registration system that keeps track of peoples movements, and they are often handed stiff fines and jailed. This lack of legal status has provided cover to security forces to perpetrate routine abuses against them with impunity, particularly in western Burma, where the security forces are involved in pacification campaigns against the local population. The SPDC did not publicly comment during the recent arrival of Muslim Rohingya on the coastlines of Thailand, India and Indonesia. Eventually, the military government announced that the Muslim Rohingya were not Burmese citizens and so the event had nothing to do with Burma, creating the false impression that the tragedy involved only Bangladeshis. At the time of the ASEAN summit in February, the SPDC announced that any Bengali who could prove that they were born in Burma could return3.The announcement was disingenuous because it is Burmese authorities themselves who have routinely denied Rohingya the necessary documentation to demonstrate their citizenship.4 Discrimination against the Rohingya, though far from universally endorsed, runs deep in Burma.5The SPDCs denial of legal status to Rohingya has considerable public support among ethnic Arakanese and other Burmese, and among some opposition and exile groups. Many Rohingya groups are routinely excluded from multilateral exile movements and meetings6. Some Arakanese Buddhists, where have been neighbors of Rohingya for centuries, routinely deny that the Rohingya even exist, claiming instead that they are Bengalis residing in Burma. The legal limbo in which the
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Following Smith Book Human Rights Watch, Burma -Crackdown on Burmese Muslims, July 2002, 3 Thanida Tansubhapol and Anucha Charoenpo, Burma: Well take Bengalis, not Rohingya, Bangkok Post, February 28, 2009. 4 Spdc When the SPDC benefits from treating Rohingya like citizen 5 Plain Speaking, The Irrawaddy, vol.17, no.2, March-April 2009, pp.26-27. 6 Human Rights Watch interview with Rohingya asylum seeker, Tokyo, July 6, 2007.

Rohingya have long lived in Burmaand the view that they should not be treated as full members of societyare at times married to outright racism South Asians are derogatorily referred to as kala (foreigner) in Burma, but the Rohingya often are viewed as beneath even this level of disdain. This was starkly in evidence recently in February 2009 letter from the Burmese Consul-General in Hong Kong, Ye Myint Aung, to his fellow heads of mission: In reality, Rohingya are neither Myanmar People nor Myanmars ethnic group. You will see in the photos that their complexion is dark brown. The complexion of Myanmar people is fair and soft, good looking as well They are as ugly as ogres.7 Proclamations of the outsider status of the Rohingya also take the form of unsubstantiated assertions that the Rohingya are not loyal to Burma and pose a serious threat to Burmas national security. While officials periodically raise such specters, history tells a different story. Since Burmas independence, the majority of Rohingya have attempted to live quiet lives and enjoy the same rights as other Burmese citizens. While some Rohingya have taken up arms, they have never posed a serious threat to Burmas territorial integrity. short-lived Mujahid rebellion in the early 1950s in Arakan failed to attract widespread Rohingya support. Contemporary Rohingya armed resistance is small and militarily insignificant, as political and armed resistance groups are splintered and constantly bickering. Small numbers of Rohingya men who have reportedly traveled to the Middle East for terrorism training have evidently not returned with any jihadist designs. There has never been a Muslim-connected terrorism incident in Burma.8 In northern Rakhine State, the Tatmadaw (part of burminazation program) has made vocational training courses held in military bases compulsory for Rohingya girls. Girls aged 15 to 18 are separated from their families and kept under the control of the military for approximately six months. As such instruction is against religious practice,an imam-whose daughter was ordered to come to a base to receive trainingwent to the camp without her. He explained why he had not brought her and was brutally dealt with, having his beard and hair shaven (Muhammad Yusuf, The gulf today.9 This type of female training may also be used to select future wives for Buddhists. So that Muslim women can be assimilated in region where it is necessary to have official permission to get married. Since the early 1990s, the militarization of western Burma has been dramatic, with a rise in the number of army battalions from 3 to 43, the biggest increase in the country.10 The Burmese army uses the local population to maintain its presence, stealing food, appropriating land, and forcing civilians to build camps, excavate roads, and carry supplies. The military-buildup has occurred in parallel with the need to safeguard massive infrastructure projects. In December 2008, the Chinese
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Letter from Ye Myint Aung, Consul General of Myanmar in Hong Kong, to heads ofMission, Consul Corps, Hong Kong and Macau SAR, February 9, 2009 8 Andrew Selth, Burmas Muslims. Terrorists or Terrorized 9 Muhammad Yusuf, The Gulf Today 10 Network for Democracy and Development, Civil and Military Administrative Echelon of State Peace and Development Council in Burma,

energy company PetroChina signed a 30-year lease with the Burmese to buy natural gas off the coast of western Arakan State, in the Shwe Gas field; the consortium involves Indian, Thai, South Korean, Chinese and Burmese interests. The gas will be transported across Burma to Yunnan province in China by pipeline, with a second pipeline running beside it that will transport crude oil from the Middle East. Although the majority of Rohingya communities are northwest of these planned pipeline routes, the increased troop presence has adversely impacted their already dismal existence11 On 10 February 2005, a Burman, Aung Tin, noted that Rohingya should be recognized as an ethnic group in Myanmar. 1. They have lived there for several hundreds of years. 2.They have their own language. 3.They have their own culture. 4. They have sizeable population.5.nowadays, I dont think any reasonable person can argue that Rohingyas are secessionists12.Thus, citizenship for Arakan Muslims is confidence building measure, which will ultimately create a more harmonious and united nation. Citizenship is a constructive link to finally unite the people of the Rakhine State, the majority and minorities alike, and Tatmadaw. The question of stateless puts the social structure of statehood would prevent political confusion. Nor does official education really take care of Arakan Muslim, unlike other Muslims in the country, who benefit from the modernization of the Department of Education. .

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Hannah Beech, The New Great Game, Time Magazine, March 30, 2009, pp.28-31. Myanmar requested to take back remaining Rohingya, The New Nation,