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Internally displaced Rohingya at a makeshift camp on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)

Internally displaced Rohingya at a makeshift camp on Tuesday, May 14, 2013. (AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe)


As Myanmar embarks on its first national census in more than 30 years, the United Nations is already accusing its government of going back on its word to count the country's embattled Rohingya Muslim population. According to reports, census workers in Rakhine state, home to an estimated 1.3 million Rohingya, have been asking households to identify their ethnicity before administering the questionnaire. Respondents who identify as Rohingya have reportedly been prevented from proceeding with the survey by census takers.


Source: The Economist

Source: The Economist


The deliberate exclusion of Rohingya Muslims from the historic census should not be entirely surprising following the government's abrupt announcement on the eve of the tally that only those identifying themselves as "Bengali"— the Burmese government's favored terminology for the Rohingya— would be officially registered. Population Minister Khin Yi even suggested that anyone identifying as Rohingya could be prosecuted for providing misinformation. The refusal to recognize Rohingya self-identification stems from official government policy that considers the ethnic minority an illegal immigrant group from Bangladesh.


The government's turn around on its assurances to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which helped to organize the $74 million survey, can likely be attributed to the vocal outcry by many hardline Buddhists over the prospect of official recognition of Rohingya identity. Wirathu, the extremist monk who has become the most visible figure in Myanmar's anti-Rohingya movement, also notably organized rallies calling for the boycott of the census.


Census taking has always been a risky political proposition in countries with bubbling sectarian tensions. Whether in Lebanon, which has not conducted a census since 1932, or Nigeria which experienced a deadly wave of unrest following its 2006 census, the act of surveying the population has proven to be a sensitive one when sectarian divides are at play. Myanmar is no different in this regard. The survey, intended as an important step towards the country's future planning and development, has instead proven to be flawed while helping to turn the heat up on already boiling tensions in Rakhine state.


Beyond the immediate concerns over violence around the survey, is the fear that the results of the tally— which will certainly underreport the Rohingya population— will only reinforce official discrimination against the minority group. Human rights experts and NGOs had feared as much leading up to the survey and vocally registered their displeasure to UNFPA over the inclusion of questions about ethnicity and religion. The international organization has been criticized for ignoring these warnings, pointing instead to assurances by the government. This week's dismaying developments should validate these concerns and count as a giant failure for the U.N., which again looks like it's doing more harm than good with its well-intentioned efforts.