So my topic today is the problem of Muslim integration policies in Myanmar. We have been hearing all the times this morning that Myanmar is in transition and one of the burning issues is that we came cross this transition period, the ethnic culture issue. The issue is actually not new to Myanmar. In Myanmar we have different episodes of conflict and riots beating Muslims and Buddhists. But it has never been resolved properly. And again many people have talked about the opportunities that have been brought by the new government. And along with the other issues I think it’s time that we need to consider Muslim integration in Myanmar. I looked at what are the factors affecting Muslim integration in Myanmar. This is actually part of a broader research I am working on. I conducted the field research last year from July to December. I interviewed 115 Muslims and Buddhists from different cities in Myanmar. I also review reports and documents and the research is guided by the literature on social integration and empirical experiences in other countries in Europe and in Asia.

So I will briefly comment on the background of Muslims in Myanmar. The first settlement of Muslims in Myanmar is reported to be in the ninth century, according to different sources, Muslim and non-Muslim sources. The official statistics says the Muslim population of 4%, which is actually contested by some scholars. And this is not surprised in a country where Muslim minorities are. Some scholars and local religious scholars estimate that the actual Muslim population can be up to 10%. Muslims in Myanmar are not a monolithic group. They come from different background. Some scholars categorize them into four different groups: 1) Muslims in Rakhine State, the people who identify themselves as original, so we all know Muslims in Rakhine State, assumed to be the biggest group in Myanmar, even though we have no exact number; 2)next group is the Bamar Muslims(basically ethnic people who follow Islam in Myanmar) or Mixed Muslims (offspring of a Muslim father or mother);  3) and the other group is Indian Muslims; 4)Panthay (Chinese) Muslims.

So on the social integration policies in Myanmar. We don’t really have any explicit social integration policy in Myanmar. Many people know the nationbuilding strategy that we saw since post-colonial period, focused on the culture assimilation of different ethnic culture groups. There are some unwritten policies to promote“Amyo, Batha, Thatana”. In Myanmar, there is a high correlation between race and religion, that is to say to be a Bamar is to be a Buddhist. For example, if you are a Muslim, you cannot be a Bamar. And again on the social integration policy, we talk about Burmanization or Buddhistization. I will not spend too much time on this.

I identify three issues that are impeding Muslim integration in Myanmar, three broad issues: Citizenship and identity; Discrimination and bias; Islamophobia. The citizenship policy is stated in the Citizenship Act 1982. The law indentified 135 pure-blooded ethnic groups who have access to full citizenship. And people who don’t belong to these groups are non pure blooded groups. It’s to be said that these people were not to be trusted. Therefore they shouldn’t be granted full citizenship and should be engaged in the state building and nation building. In 1982 five Muslim groups which previously recognized in 1974 disappeared from the official list of ethnic groups in Myanmar. In the 1990 immigration policy, people who identify themselves to be Muslims required to mark India, Pakistan or Bengali on their citizenship scrutiny card. But Buddhists have no such requirement. Many Muslims reported discrimination in education. Admission to medical school and engineering school require full citizenship status, which is quite bad for the Muslims who do not have access to full citizenship. And no senior positions allowed in public institutions. We don’t really have many Muslim media in Myanmar. The media report seemed to biased, even in the state media. How Muslim responded to this? They resulted in social withdrawal and racial/ residential segregation. Some of the parents don’t send their children to public schools because their children might be discriminated there. There is a different education system for Muslim and other modern education. People who go to the Muslim religious school, they don’t learn other things from public school. They are kind of isolated and segregated because they think there is a risk of diluting their faith.

The other thing I want to highlight here is Islamophobia. In Myanmar there is a pprophecy that Buddhism will disappear from the world 5,000 years after the passing of Buddha. For that Muslims are seen as a threat. Because Muslims have been disintegrated for a long time, they have been vulnerable to rumours spread by some nationalists. For example, anti-Muslim messages such as the misinterpretation of the‘786’symbol.

As I said, this is a part of a research, I just share some of my ideas with you.I think without addressing the citizenship issue we cannot kick off any social integration policy in Myanmar. And the process should be transparent and inclusive. We haven’t talked much about the implementation of the 1982 law. We haven’t heard the voices from the local, very deep-down local community, but with some of the people who claimed to represent their communities. And also an inclusive approach to finding solution to tackle hate speech and reduce prejudice, maybe by increased interfaith cooperation. The government should take a lead in the forum to discuss and clarify misperceptions. As I said, there are many associations on Muslim in the country’s long history, we should set a public forum about contributions of Muslims to Myanmar so that Islam is not as foreign as many people think.

Thank you.