NVC: A Tool That Weaken the Status of Rohingya

By Aman Ullah

One of the core demands of the ill-fated Rohingya refugees for their repatriation is to restore their citizenship rights. However, Myanmar still refuses to grant returning Rohingya citizenship, but instead insist they must accept a so-called National Verification Card which will cement their status as stateless. Myanmar has convinced many in the world that the NVC, process will help the Rohingya to become citizens and grant them greater rights in the country.

Since 1962, the country’s military, the backbone of all governments, has pursued varied and evolving strategies to reduce, remove, replace, relocate and otherwise destroy the Rohingya. Burmese successive Regimes always try to deny and to reject the Rohingya not only as one of the country’s indigenous peoples but also their citizenship rights. Throughout the decades since independence, subsequent military governments forced upon the Rohingya documents that attested residency—without confirming citizenship.

For over 800 years, from 1044 to 1885, the Burmese lived under an absolute monarchy. All legislative, executive and judicial powers were concentrated in the hands of the monarch. Justice was administered by issuing royal commands. As the loyal subject of the kings, the people needed to surrender all their wills at feet of the kings. They had neither rights nor liberties nor a say in the affairs of the state.

Rohingya: NVC is Genocide Card https://lnkd.in/gC-N28A

The rule of the Burmese kings came to an end in 1885 when Burma became Her Majesty Queen Victoria’s possession. All the people of Burma were became the subjects of the Her Majesty Queen Victoria till Burma achieved its independence on 4th January 1948.

After years of being a colony, on 17 October 1947, Prime Ministers, U Nu of Burma and Clement Attlee of the UK signed a treaty formally for the recognizing the independence of the Union of Burma, “Treaty between the Government of the United Kingdom and the Provisional Government of Burma, Burma Independence Act”, known as the Nu-Atlee Agreement within the UN Charter on the principle of decolonization. In Article 1, the Government of the UK recognizes the Republic of the Union of Burma as a fully Independent Sovereign State.

“Genocide cards”: Rohingya refugees refuse NVC cards https://lnkd.in/g55-gSZ

The Nu-Atlee Agreement was very important as to the determination of the nationality status of the peoples and races in Burma. The object and purposes of the Nu-Atlee Agreement is decolonizing all the peoples living in Burma (Myanmar) and make them citizens of the newly independent State.

In the Article 3 of the Nu-Atlee Agreement, a citizen of Burma (Myanmar) defined:

“Any person who at the date of the coming into force of the present Treaty is, by virtue of the Constitution of the Union of Burma, a citizen thereof and who is, or by virtue of a subsequent election is deemed to be, also a British subject, may make a declaration of alienage in the manner prescribed by the law of the Union, and thereupon shall cease to be a citizen of the Union. The Provisional Government of Burma undertake to introduce in the Parliament of the Union as early as possible, and in any case within a period of one year from the coming into force of the present Treaty, legislation for the purpose of implementing the provisions of this Article.”

The Nu-Atlee Agreement is an international agreement under the United Nations` system of decolonization. The very object of the Nu-Atlee Agreement is the decolonization of the all peoples living in Burma. Before the independence of Myanmar, all the peoples including the minorities were under the protection of the Article 73 of the United Nations` Charter by the General Assembly Resolution66 (I). In Article 73, the interests of the inhabitants of the territories whose peoples have not yet attained a full measure of self-government as a principle defined as “paramount”, this principle includes “the well-being of them.”

NVC is most dangerous genocide alert https://lnkd.in/d4nzUGs

The Constitution for this sovereign Independent Republic was completed on 24 September 1947 by the constituent Assembly. Following approval of the Constitution by the British parliament and signing of defense agreement, Burma became free on 4 January 1948. All the peoples of Burma; Burman and non-Burman including the Rohingyas, ceased the subjects of British became independent citizens of independent country. That’s means that, then they will no more to be subjects of Her Majesty Queen Victoria and became independent citizens of independent Burma.

The 1947 constitution provided safeguards for fundamental rights. Under this constitution, the people of Burma irrespective of “birth, religion, sex or race” equally enjoyed all the citizenships rights including right to express, right to assemble, right to associations and unions, settle in any part of the Union, to acquire property and to follow any occupation, trade, business or profession”.

However, at that time the inhabitants of the country consisted of persons of indigenous, mixed and foreign stock. Citizenship was partly defined by the Constitution thereby assuring citizenship rights to the indigenous and mixed races, but the task of defining citizenship more completely was left to the parliament. Laws were promulgated by the Parliament from time to time to define citizenship and to provide for its acquisition and anyone who was not a citizen was classified as a foreigner.

The “Residents of Burma Registration Act” was enacted in 1949 and a nine members committee was formed June 1950 to draft its rules in the name of ‘National Registration Rules Drafting Committee’. After finalizing the draft the committee submitted it to the Government for approval and the Parliament approved the Rules in the February 1951 session. It was circulated by the Ministry of Homes on February 23, 1951 as Gazette notification No. 117 in a name of , ‘Residents of Burma registration Rules, 1951’.

Every person residing in Burma shall furnish, for registration purposes, (his/her) particulars as required under this Act or its rules made there under. The Registration Officer or Assistant Registration Officer shall, in accordance with the rules made under this Act, issue to every person who has registered as such, a registration card as a proof of identity and containing prescribed particulars.

Notwithstanding anything in the above rules, the foreigners shall be exempted from the application of the said rules other than rule 29 and 31. The foreigners who were registered under 1940 Foreigner Registration rules shall be deemed that they are being registered under these rules. For the matters in the rule 29 and 31, the registration card issued under 1940 Foreigner Registration Rules shall be deemed that the card is issued under these rules.

Registration and issuing these cards was commenced on March 1, 1952 by visiting door to door in every nock and corner of the area in Rangoon District and in other 7 towns including Akyab on April1, 1952 (1953 Burma gazetteers vol.1, page-819). The tasks of Maungdaw, Buthidaung, Rathedaung and others 20 townships were commenced on August 1, 1953 (1954 Burmese gazetteers Vol.1, page-197).

NRCs were issued to all residents (mainly citizens) whilst registered foreigners (under Foreigners Registration Act and Rule of 1948) were issued FRCs. There was no third category of people in Burma, then. As a result, NRCs were used as a proof of nationality or citizenship. This is the most authentic document concerning Rohingya’s citizenship.

NRC is a bona fides document that allowed one to carry on all his national activities, without let or hindrance: — to possess moveable and immovable or landed properties, pursue education, including higher studies and professional courses in the country’s seats of learning, right to work and public services, including armed forces, and to obtain Burmese passport for travelling abroad, including pilgrimage to Holy Makkah.

According to the 1973 census, the population of Akyab Township was 140,000; Maungdaw 223,320; Buthidaung 163,353; and Rathedaung 95,270. FRC holders in Akyab were 841, Maungdaw 109, Buthidaung 203 and Rathedaung 55. There were also 1528 people without any documents. That’s means that among the 621943 persons, there were only 1, 208 persons FRC holders and 1528 persons undocumented and the rest were NRC holders and their family members in these townships, where more than 60%; of total population was Rohingyas at that time.

However, since 1970 no NRC cards were issued to the Rohingyas, whereas, as per the regulation every person above the age of 12 years would have to have NRCs. In addition to this, the government launched a military operation since 1974 in the name of ‘Sabe Operation’. During that operation thousands of Rohingyas’ NRCs were seized without any legal authorities, on various pretexts which were never returned. In these ways thousands of the poor and natural born Rohingyas were classified as foreigners, alleging filtrated from Bangladesh. Thus, the system of issuing the NRCs was directed to fit into a well-planned policy of de-nationalizing the Rohingyas of Arakan.

Moreover, following the promulgation of the 1982 Citizenship Law, all residents in Burma had to reapply for citizenship, exchanging their old identity documents for new one. In 1989, a further change was made and all residents had to apply for new Citizenship Scrutiny Cards, (in Burmese ‘naing-ngan-tha si-sit-ye kat-pya’), rather than the Identity Cards (in Burmese’ amyu-tha hmat-pon-tin kat-pya’). The new cards are colour-coded for essay identification of the citizenship status of the bearer. Pink cards were given to full citizens, blue for associate citizens and green for naturalized citizens.

The 1982 Citizenship Law, essentially based on jus sanguinis criteria, identifies three categories of citizens: Full Citizens, Associate Citizens and Naturalized Citizens, who are issued with colour-coded ID cards, carrying different sets of rights. Full citizens are citizens by birth (section 3) belonging to one of 135 ‘national races’ settled in Burma/ Myanmar before 1823, the start of the British colonization of Arakan, as well as those already recognized as citizens under the previous “1948 Union Citizenship Act ” (section 6). Associate citizens were those whose application to citizenship under the 1948 Act was still pending when the 1982 Law entered into force. Access to naturalized citizenship requires two sets of qualifying criteria: evidence of long term residence in Myanmar since 4 January 1948 (section 42) or descent from, or marriage to, a person who held or holds a form of Myanmar citizenship (section 45), and fulfilling stringent requirements such as fluency in one of the recognised national languages, to be of sound mind and of good character (section 44).

It is worth mentioning to that, under the Section 2 of 1982 Burma Citizenship Law there are 3 categories of certificates in sub sections (f), (g) and (h) such as:-

(f) “Certificate of citizenship” means a certificate of citizenship granted under the Union Citizenship (Election) Act, 1948 or the Union Citizenship Act, 1948 or this Law;

(g) “Certificate of Associate Citizenship” means a certificate of associate citizenship granted under this Law;

(h) “Certificate of Naturalized Citizenship” means a certificate of naturalized citizenship granted under this Law;

However, the Citizenship Scrutiny Cards, (in Burmese ‘naing-ngan-tha si-sit-ye kat-pya’) is not mentioned in this Citizenship Law. Since 1989, the government issued a pink colour Citizenship Scrutiny Cards to all so called full citizens of the country. Even Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Army Chief Min Aung Hlaing are also holding this card, which was not mentioned in the 1892 Citizenship Law. None knows when this scrutiny process will be accomplished and these ill-fated so called full citizens will be eligible to hold the Certificate of citizenship.

The cards must be carried at all the times, the cards number has to be given when buying tickets; registering children in schools; staying overnight with friends or relatives outside one’s own council area; applying for any professional post, including all civil service posts; buying or exchanging land and other .

Thus, denying the right to citizenship in Burma is denying all the civil rights in Burma, such as the right to freedom of movement, the right to education, the right to own property, the right to be employed as civil servants’, and so on.

One of the key points of the Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs), on the repatriation of Rohingya refugees, between Burma and Bangladesh and between Burma and UNHCR was that returnees be granted “appropriate identification”. In practice, however, this initially meant that the returnees received “returnee identification cards” yellow colour cards which only identified them as persons having returned from Bangladesh by giving them no legal status.

In July 1995, in response to UNHCR’s intensive advocacy efforts to document the Rohingyas, the regime moved to regularize the population of northern Arakan by issuing new cards to all Rohingya residents. According to the regime it was “first step toward to citizenship”. The new card, which is called Temporary Registration Card (TRC), was issued under the 1949 Residents of Burma Registration Act and the 1951 Residents of Burma Registration Rules, both of which acts were superseded by the 1982 Citizenship Law but were reintroduced in order to be used solely for the registration of Rohingyas.

Under the 1951 Residents of Burma Registration Rules, The record-keeper may issue “Temporary registration certificate (TRC)” for any of the following reasons:

• If record-keeper suppose that entry in the registration record has been done completely in a proper way.

• If an application is submitted to issue another card in lieu of the card, which is lost or damage or faded out?

• If there is specific reasons by general or special order.

TRC means a certificate issued in lieu of the registration card and a proof of identity valid for a certain period specified in the certificate. The TRC must be in accord with form (3) attached to the back of this rules. The validity duration of TRC may be restricted by fixing a deadline. The holder of TRC shall surrender his card to record-keeper within 7 days after validity of the card expires. The record-keeper may reissue that card endorsing it for validity extension as and when necessary or he may issue new TRC.

Before 2010 election, the then government issued TRC (white Card) to the Rohingyas and other minority populations, such as the Burma-born ethnic Chinese and Indian. About 700,000 Rohingya had been issued those cards. The government allowed these ID cards (“white cards”) to vote in two occasions. About Allegedly, the ruling party, Union Solidarity and Development Party, chaired by the then President Thein Sein, coerced or bought Rohingya votes to secure a majority in parliament in the 2010 elections.

On February 2, 2015, the Burmese Parliament approved a referendum, which is called 2015 Referendum Law. This law automatically enfranchises hundreds of thousands of white card holders, who live in Burma but successive Burmese regime denied to give them full citizenship rights.

These white card holders’ vaguely-defined legal status was being abused by the USDP and government for political gains during voting. They created this policy since 2008 when the country had a referendum.

However, the President’s position has been particularly ambivalent, as he personally advocated their enfranchisement for a referendum on a constitutional amendment, only to declare the white cards invalid when protests erupted in several parts of the country to prevent their participation in any kind of upcoming election. Alarmingly, the protesters were not rallying behind opposition parties to demand clean, transparent elections, but rather behind Buddhist monks with nationalistic and openly racist slogans demanding their expulsion from Myanmar.

In June 2014, a pilot citizenship verification exercise started in Taung Paw IDP camp in Myebon, where displaced Rohingyas survive in a particularly hostile environment and where they had accepted to self-identify as Bengali during the 2014 population census. The Immigration team encountered protests by local Rakhine. Applicants were not required to submit documentary evidence. Based on a 3-generation family tree verification of descent back to the grandparents in government records was sufficient to establish ‘full citizenship’. Out of 1,280 initial applications, 105 were granted full citizenship and 459 naturalized citizenship as of July 2015, but at least 14 were rejected, 8 for being mentally unsound and 6 on language grounds. Children of those issued with citizenship documents were also granted citizenship, making a total of over 1,000 individuals. Remaining applications are still pending a decision on eligibility.

On 1 January 2015, the Government announced that the Citizenship Verification was extended nationwide. As of 5 June 2015, those who had surrendered their expired white cards were told to exchange the receipt for a turquoise (green/blue) card called “Identity Card for Nationality Verification” (ICNV or NVC) and then proceed with an application for citizenship verification. The NVC does not display ethnicity and religion, but does not provide any legal status to the holder. In 2015, the application form for NVCs, however, did require self -identification as Bengali. As a result, most Rohingyas declined to apply for a NVC. Reportedly, just over 1,000 Rohingyas in Rakhine State had volunteered by the end of 2015.

According to local immigration official, authorities have collected about 400,000 temporary identification cards, known as “white cards,” from the Rohingya Muslims as part of the process of applying for citizenship. In return they have received a light green and blue card containing an identification number, name of the holder, their gender, date of birth, and place of birth, marital status and father’s name with visible identification marks in Burmese and English. This cardholder can verify that he or she lives in Myanmar, but that person still needs to apply for and be verified for citizenship eligibility.

Officials are simultaneously issuing the green cards along with application forms to apply for Myanmar citizenship in 13 townships in Rakhine state, including Sittwe, Mrauk U, Thandwe, Buthidaung and Maungdaw, he said.

The NVC is only the first step permitting holders to undergo citizenship verification, which applies to former white cards’ holders. It remains unclear how those who are undocumented and those who hold NRCs would be able to enter the verification process without NVC. The process was stalled temporarily around the 2015 elections and resumed under the new Rakhine State Committee led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi established on 31 May 2016. The new Government already confirmed that the process will continue to be based on the 1982 Citizenship Law.

With compulsions, restrictions and confinement Rohingyas are forced to take ‘NVC’ National Verification Cards instead of pink cards which was given to Burmese Buddhist people or all Buddhist people. NVC mean separation of Muslims from Buddhist people. The authorities continued to exert pressure on Rohingya to accept the NVC, either with threats or denial of ‘incentives’. Fishermen in Sittwe were said to be required to have NVC in order to work, but still were only permitted to fish two days out of the week even while having NVC. NVC holders were eligible to apply for travel permits, but these requests were denied. NVC holders said they experienced no improvements in rights, opportunity, or quality of life as a result of holding NVC.

Myanmar appears to currently be using the NVC as a way to push back against pressure from the international community who want greater rights for the Rohingya, while also using it paradoxically as a tool to weaken the rights and status of the Rohingya in the long run. By forcing the NVC on the Rohingya they may find themselves permanently placed in the lowest tier of residency, confined indefinitely to squalid ‘temporary’ camps, and without any prospect for a just and prosperous future. Worryingly, the NVC has recently been forced onto some citizens belong to other marginalized communities as well, including Muslims who have long held higher tier citizenship status.

Source: AT