Shwe Mann, chairman of an influential legal review committee and former member of the military ruling elite, warned new US Ambassador to Burma Scot Marciel to be “careful” about using a term that “the Myanmar people can’t accept,” during a meeting in the capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday.
The term in question is “Rohingya,” referring to a largely stateless Muslim minority residing in western Arakan State. The Burmese government and much of the population do not recognize the right of the persecuted minority to self-identify as Rohingya, instead labeling them “Bengalis,” implying that they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.
Shwe Mann’s words represent a marginally stronger—but consistent—stance to that of Aung San Suu Kyi, state counselor and minister of foreign affairs, who last week asked the US Embassy not to use the term after nationalist protesters demanded that her National League for Democracy (NLD) government condemn the use of “Rohingya” by members of the international community in Burma. (Courtesy of Irrawaddy)
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