Published
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Protest held against government plan to give citizenship to some Rohingya
Ethnic Rakhine protesters take part in a demonstration against a government push to speed up the citizenship verification process for the stateless Rohingya minority in Sittwe township, Rakhine state, on March 19, 2017. Photo: Khine Htoo Mrat/AFP
Hundreds of hard-line Buddhists in Rakhine state protested yesterday against a perceived government plan to give citizenship to some members of the Rohingya Muslim minority community, AP reported on 19 March.
Rakhine state's dominant Arakan National Party led the protest in Sittwe, the state capital.
The protest took place three days after the Rakhine Advisory Commission, led by former UN chief Kofi Annan, urged the NLD-led government to reconsider a failed programme to verify the Rohingya for Myanmar citizenship and to remove restrictions on freedom of movement.
