Two child limit imposed on Myanmar's Rohingya
New measure, which applies to Muslim Rohingya families in western Rakhine state, does not affect Buddhists in the area.
Last Modified: 25 May 2013
Authorities in Myanmar's western Rakhine state have imposed a two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families, a policy that does not apply to Buddhists in the area, and comes amid accusations of ethnic cleansing in the aftermath of sectarian violence.
Local officials said on Saturday that the new measure would be applied to two Rakhine townships that border Bangladesh and have the highest Muslim populations in the state.
The townships, Buthidaung and Maundaw, are about 95 percent Muslim.
The unusual order makes Myanmar perhaps the only country in the world to impose such a restriction on a religious group, and is likely to fuel further criticism that Muslims are being discriminated against in the Buddhist-majority country.
China has a one-child policy, but it is not based on religion and exceptions apply to minority ethnic groups.
India briefly practised forced sterilisation of men in a bid to control the population in the mid-1970s when civil liberties were suspended during a period of emergency rule, but a nationwide outcry quickly shut down the programme.
'Overpopulation causes tension'
Rakhine state spokesman Win Myaing said the new programme was meant to stem rapid population growth in the Muslim community, which a government-appointed commission identified as one of the causes of the sectarian violence.
Although Muslims are the majority in the two townships in which the new policy applies, they account for only about 4 percent of Myanmar's roughly 60 million people.
The measure was enacted a week ago after the commission recommended family planning programs to stem population growth among Muslims, Win Myaing said.
The commission also recommended doubling the number of security forces in the volatile region.
"The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine (Buddhists)," Win Myaing said. "Overpopulation is one of the causes of tension."
Sectarian violence in Myanmar first flared nearly a year ago in Rakhine state between the region's Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya.
Mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razed thousands of Muslim homes, leaving hundreds of people dead and forcing 125,000 to flee, mostly Muslims.
Witnesses and human rights groups said riot police stood by as crowds attacked Muslims and burned their villages.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused authorities in Rakhine of fomenting an organised
campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya.
Buddhism never allowed for Buddhist extremists says Rajapaksa
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Addressing devotees on Wednesday, Rajapaksa said that the Mahasangha 'should be more concerned and well-informed about a situation being plotted to rouse communal tensions and create a crisis situation among religions and sects of the same religion to breach the religious harmony in the country'.
A government website quoted him as saying:
'It is evident that certain NGOs are drafting agendas to dislodge the place given to Buddhism in the constitution. But the government will never allow these forces to achieve their sinister targets'
'The government has been the protector of Buddhism as per the provisions of the constitution. It should foster and nourish Buddhism and should give the foremost place to Buddhism'
'The ulterior motive of these conspirators is to create a conflict among religions and create divisions among the religious sects as in certain other countries where there are conflicts taking place on the basis of their religions and sects.'
