A group of 22 Kaman Muslims who came to Yangon from conflict-affected Rakhine State last month are refusing an order from authorities to return to the state, saying they have full citizenship rights and are legally allowed to move freely throughout Myanmar.
“We don’t care if they arrest us. We are not going back. We are holders of national identity cards. So, we assume authorities have no right to arrest us,” Tin Zar Hnin, a mother of one who came to Yangon to be with her husband, told Myanmar Now.
In mid-November, the group left Ramree Island (Yanbye Island), located off the Rakhine coast. They had been living there under harsh conditions in a camp for families displaced by outbreaks of inter-communal violence between Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims in 2012.
They came by car and air, and did not encounter any problems along the way, the interviewees said. After several weeks, authorities in Yangon approached the Kaman National Development Party office in Mayangon Township asking it to pass on an order stating that the group had to return to their camp as they had left without prior permission.
“An immigration official in Yangon called and asked me if we would send back these people according to our plans, or if the government has to arrange it,” said Tin Hlaing Win, secretary of the Kaman National Development Party. “We said we cannot do this as these people have valid national identity cards.” (Courtesy of Mizzima)
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