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In Myanmar,
UN-Funded
Census Bans Rohingya,
UN in Denial,
Violence
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS, March
31 -- The UN
appears to be
in denial
about the
exclusionary
census it has
supporting in
Myanmar,
particularly
now that the government
refuses to
allow any
"Rohingya"
answer,
and violence
has broken
out.
On the
violence, on
March 28
Inner City
Press asked
UN deputy
spokesperson
Farhan Haq:
Inner
City Press: On
the unrest in
Sittwe, in
Rakhine State
in Myanmar.
And there are
various
articles
saying that
basically the
census that
the UN funded
and
participated
in, which your
office
previously
answered a
question
explaining the
involvement
in, was
largely the
cause of the
unrest. I
wonder, what
does the UN
say to that
and what
is its own
kind of risk
assessment
that it
conducted
before the
census? Does
it now
acknowledge
that the risk
assessment was
erroneous?
Deputy
Spokesman:
Well, first of
all, I
wouldn’t have
any comment on
our
risk
assessments.
We make them
based on
available data
at the time.
You know, it’s
not that they
are predictive
tools, they’re
efforts to
assess what
the situation
on the ground
is at the
current
point in time.
Regarding the
incidents in
Sittwe, you’ll
have
seen, we
mentioned
yesterday what
the
Humanitarian
Coordinator
had to
say about the
situation.
Regarding
that,
following the
attacks
reported
earlier this
week on UN and
non-governmental
organizations
premises in
Sittwe, in
Rakhine State,
initial
assessments
show
substantial
damage to UN
and NGO
[non-governmental
organization]
property and
vehicles. The
humanitarian
community in
Myanmar
remains
concerned
about the
safety and
security of
aid workers,
as well as
constraints on
access to
communities in
need. Despite
the
insecurity,
the United
Nations and
its
humanitarian
partners are
determined to
resume aid
operations and
continue to
consult with
the
Government and
local
authorities.
So, that is
what we’re
trying to
do in
response. We
don’t believe
that there
should be any
excuse
made, by the
way, regarding
trying to
impede the
work of
humanitarian
agencies. That
needs to
happen
unobstructed.
But the
census
does not even
allow Rohingya
to answer as
such,
according to
the
government,
here.
Back
on January 24,
Inner City
Press asked
the
UN's Haq:
Inner
City Press:
another
Myanmar
question.
There is a
census coming
up. It seems
that the
United Nations
system is
involved in
funding and
maybe even
participating
in it. Both
Kachin and
Rohingya
groups have
expressed a
lot of
concerns. One,
there is no
box in the
census thus
far to check
Rohingya,
meaning…
implying that
they are not
citizens.
Also, Kachin,
they have
other
complaints. I
wanted to
know: is UN
aware of
these? What
steps are they
taking, and
will they fund
a census that
many groups
think makes
things worse
rather than
better?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: Well, we
will look into
what we are
doing on that
question. We
need some
details about
that.
It was
19 days later,
on February
12, that the
UN
Spokesperson's
Office finally
sent this
response:
Subject:
In
response to
your question
on the Myanmar
census.
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Wed, Feb
12, 2014 at
5:02 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
The UN
Population
Fund (UNFPA)
is the focal
UN agency for
providing
technical and
programmatic
assistance to
the Government
for the
census. It
says that
everyone in
Myanmar will
be counted in
the census.
UNFPA is
supporting the
Government to
ensure that
the census is
fully
inclusive and
conducted
according to
international
standards.
Respondents
will be asked
to identify
their
ethnicity,
with the
option of
selecting one
of the
categories
used in the
1983 census or
selecting
"other" and
writing in the
name of
another group.
All of the
responses will
be coded and
tabulated.
Compare
this
belated
Pollyanna
answer by the
UN and UNFPA
to what the
Myanmar
government
Minister for
Immigration
and Population
U Khin Yi
openly says:
"They
say that their
race is
Rohingya. When
a person says
that his race
is “B”,
because he
doesn’t want
to mention his
race as “A”,
that means
that race “A”
no longer
exists, but
the race “B”
is a new race.
Since race “B”
is a new race,
there will be
questions,
such as “how
did the race
enter (the
country)?” or
“are they
encroaching
here?” When
things become
radical, I
worry that it
could harm
peace and
stability...We
will record
what the
person says.
If he says “A”
then we will
fill the form
as “A”. The
result will
be, like I
said before,
that even if
that term “A”
is Rohingya,
we will not
recognize
Rohingya as
one of the 135
ethnic groups
in Myanmar."
So
this is "fully
inclusive and
conducted
according to
international
standards"?
The UN is at
best in
denial. Watch
this site.
Footnote:
It
appears that
on-again,
off-again UN
official
Charles Petrie
is about to
set sail from
Myanmar. He
was quoted
earlier this
year: "In
terms of MPSI
we want to
make sure
whatever we do
adds value,
and there’s a
clear sense
that if there
isn’t we won’t
continue."
Watch this
site.
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