Anti-Slavery International

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UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Sixtieth session

15^th March – 23^rd April 2004

Oral intervention delivered by Anti-Slavery International on 7^th April 2004

Item 13 – Rights of the Child

Anti-Slavery International would like to draw the attention of the Commission to the specific situation of the Muslim children of Northern Rakhine State in Myanmar. They belong to a group widely known as the Rohingya. They are born stateless, discriminated against from birth on the basis of their ethnicity. The 1982 Citizenship Law deprives them of citizenship rights and perpetuates statelessness. The SPDC has started issuing “white identity cards” to the Muslim population of Rakhine State, but this is no more than a temporary residence permit clearly stating that it cannot be used as a proof to claim citizenship.

The regime’s policies of exclusion against the Rohingya Muslim children of Northern Rakhine State are being implemented through a series of measures designed to impede child development and family growth.

Among them, I would cite:

- Restrictions of freedom of movement, as Rohingya children and their parents are virtually confined to their village tracts. The need to obtain travel passes limits their access to health, education and employment, thus severely affecting the livelihood of the family.

- In the field of health and education, they are particularly neglected. 60% of the Muslim children of Northern Rakhine State are said to suffer from malnutrition and the level of illiteracy is extremely high.

- Restriction of access to food through a series of constraints, including arbitrary taxation and extortion, is the main strategy of the regime to encourage departure, and a major root cause of the ongoing exodus to Bangladesh.

- Increasingly, measures are being imposed to control birth and to limit expansion of the Rohingya population. Unlike other people of Burma, the Rohingyas must apply for permission to get married, which is only granted in exchange for high bribes and can take up to several years to obtain. To register their children’s birth, parents are charged fees that significantly increased in 2003. Moreover, building a new house or repairing or extending an existing dwelling also require authorisation, resulting in overcrowded and precarious living conditions, affecting women and children.

Many Rohingya children are subject to forced labour. Cultural practices in the Rohingya community prevent women from participating in activities outside of their homes. As male adults are busy earning the daily wage to feed the family, the burden of carrying out forced labour duties often falls on children.

Mr. Chairman,

What kind of future can these stateless children hope for? An answer to this question can only emerge when the policies of discrimination and exclusion end, allowing the creation of an environment conducive to children’s development. Myanmar acceded to the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991, but the treatment accorded to Rohingya children is in blatant breach of its obligations. We request the Commission to address such discriminatory practices with the Government of Myanmar and strongly urge it to ensure respect for the fundamental rights of these children.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.