Thousands of Arakanese March Against UN, in Support of Citizenship Law

4 February 2014

About 5,000 ethnic Arakanese Buddhists marched in Sittwe, Arakan State, on Monday, the Myanma Freedom Daily reports, with protestors demanding that the United Nations and “INGOs” (international nongovernmental organizations) be expelled from the state, and urging more rigorous enforcement of a 1982 Citizenship Law that renders Burma’s minority Rohingya Muslims stateless. The march followed a report by the UN last month that up to 48 Rohingya were killed in communal violence in the state’s northern Maungdaw Township. Protestors on Monday also demanded revocation of the “white cards” that some Rohingya have been issued, which allow them to vote despite their lack of citizenship.