UN
Spins Census
While Myanmar
Says Will Not
Recognize
Rohingya
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
February 13 --
Is the UN in
denial about
the
exclusionary
census it is
supporting in
Myanmar? Back
on January 24,
Inner City
Press asked
UN
spokesperson
Farhan Haq:
Inner
City Press:
another
Myanmar
question.
There is a
census coming
up. It seems
that the
United Nations
system is
involved in
funding and
maybe even
participating
in it. Both
Kachin and
Rohingya
groups have
expressed a
lot of
concerns. One,
there is no
box in the
census thus
far to check
Rohingya,
meaning…
implying that
they are not
citizens.
Also, Kachin,
they have
other
complaints. I
wanted to
know: is UN
aware of
these? What
steps are they
taking, and
will
they fund a
census that
many groups
think makes
things worse
rather
than better?
Acting
Deputy
Spokesperson
Haq: Well, we
will look into
what we are
doing
on that
question. We
need some
details about
that.
It
was 19 days
later, on
February 12,
that the UN
Spokesperson's
Office
finally sent
this response:
Subject:
In
response to
your question
on the Myanmar
census.
From: UN
Spokesperson -
Do Not Reply
[at] un.org
Date: Wed, Feb
12, 2014 at
5:02 PM
To:
Matthew.Lee
[at]
innercitypress.com
The
UN
Population
Fund (UNFPA)
is the focal
UN agency for
providing
technical and
programmatic
assistance to
the Government
for the
census. It
says that
everyone in
Myanmar will
be counted in
the
census. UNFPA
is supporting
the Government
to ensure that
the census
is fully
inclusive and
conducted
according to
international
standards.
Respondents
will be asked
to identify
their
ethnicity,
with the
option of
selecting one
of the
categories
used in the
1983
census or
selecting
"other" and
writing in the
name of
another group.
All of the
responses will
be coded and
tabulated.
Compare
this
belated
Pollyanna
answer by the
UN and UNFPA
to what the
Myanmar
government
Minister for
Immigration
and Population
U Khin Yi
openly
says:
"They
say that their
race is
Rohingya. When
a person says
that his race
is
“B”, because
he doesn’t
want to
mention his
race as “A”,
that means
that race “A”
no longer
exists, but
the race “B”
is a new race.
Since race “B”
is a new race,
there will be
questions,
such as “how
did the race
enter (the
country)?” or
“are they
encroaching
here?” When
things become
radical, I
worry
that it could
harm peace and
stability...We
will record
what the
person says.
If he says “A”
then we will
fill the form
as “A”.
The result
will be, like
I said before,
that even if
that term “A”
is Rohingya,
we will not
recognize
Rohingya as
one of the 135
ethnic
groups in
Myanmar."
So
this is "fully
inclusive and
conducted
according to
international
standards"?
The UN is at
best in
denial. Watch
this site.
, 
