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Rohingya Muslim leaders appealed on Wednesday to a visiting U.S. State Department official to press the Myanmar government to grant basic rights, including citizenship and freedom of movement, to members of the ethnic minority group who live in the vicinity of Rakhine state’s capital Sittwe, a Muslim who was part of the group said.
Richard Albright, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state who is responsible for humanitarian assistance programs in Asia, is visiting the ethnically and religiously divided region with U.S. Ambassador to Myanmar Scot Marciel.
The Rohingya leaders told the two diplomats during a stop in Thet Kae Pyin village that the Myanmar government is focusing on providing National Verification Cards (NVCs) to the Rohingya, and they expressed a desire to see the delayed process for citizenship applications pick up speed, said Maung Maung, who participated in the meeting.
The cards are the first step before the scrutinization of citizenship in accordance with the country’s 1982 Citizenship Law, which defines citizenship based on ethnicity, thereby excluding the Rohingya, who are not included on the government's list of official ethnic groups. Though the NVCs do not guarantee citizenship.