Even in NVC, Myanmar Not Walking the Talk

Despite the NVC became the subject-matter of the dispute between Myanmar and its Rohingya at the final point, even in this NVC and related issues – no Rohingya accepts it voluntarily – the former’s ill performance strengthens Rohingya’s desperation and mistrust.

Procrastination, extortion, injustice, embarrassment and other unlawful practices denote government’s deliberate creation of complicacy and unwillingness of solution that easily makes one perceive how an ongoing systematic genocide is threatening existence of this friendless ethnic minority, Rohingya.

Minister for Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement of Myanmar, U Win Myat Aye, uttered on October 8 in 70th UNHCR Executive Committee Meeting at Geneva that the citizenship status of NVC holders will be determined within six month after having this card through an investigation.

According to Radio Free Asia, Myanmar authorities in reception camps have issued to the Rohingya returnees National Verification (NVC) Cards as a precursor to applying for citizenship if they qualify.

But those who have applied for citizenship with a newly issued NVC report that no progress has been made on their applications, even after a year.

The Myanmar government has not explained such delays in the citizenship applications process for NVC holders, the source mentioned.

Recently a Rohingya from Buthidaung told RVision that the township immigration extorts 300 thousand kyat per applicant at the beginning of the citizenship verification application following NVC. Again the applicant is required to pay the immigration at township, district and state levels 500 thousands each in order to process the application.

There are also additional miscellaneous payments to follow up the case, get application status updates and avoid delay in processing. In total, one has to bribe more than two million kyats for the whole process that normally takes one to two years.

Moreover, those who have proven their existence for three successive generations were given third class status called ‘Naturalized Citizen’.

The problem is that every investigation team at the township, district and state levels includes some Rakhine members who at any rate never approve full status.

During the investigation process what they follow is neither the 1982 citizenship law nor any other law but their discriminatory will and a genocidal intent.

This NVC doesn’t allow any free movement even locally. NVC holders suffer from intensively posted checkpoints that never leave any passenger of passerby without extortion on various baseless accusations and pretexts.  

Reportedly there are NVC holders among the 30 detainees who were attempting to travel to Yangon of whom 21 adults were jailed for two years.

The NVC has no expiry date like its precedent Temporary Identity Card (white). Though Rohingya’s citizenship is collectively revoked in 1982 following an amendment in then-existing law, the NVC is introduced very recently to practice all these satanic ideas.

NVC legally confines its holders to their homes, revokes their ownership and makes them aliens forever within their homeland.