A Rakhine State Government spokesperson has insisted that recent data
collection in camps for displaced Muslims is related to next year’s census,
despite a United Nations agency saying there is no link between the two events.
Immigration officers visited some camps for internally displaced people in Sittwe township on April 26 to collect data on residents. A dispute broke out at a camp near Thatkepyin village, about 10 kilometres from the state capital Sittwe, when officials tried to record the ethnicity of camp residents as Bengali. Some of the camp’s residents refused, saying they would only sign as Rohingya, and allegedly threw rocks at the officials.
Following reports of the incident, the UN Population Fund issued a statement on May 3 in which it said that “[h]ousehold data collection activities being undertaken in the camps and other sites in Sittwe, Rakhine State, involving the update of family lists by teams composed of several government departments, are unrelated to the National Population and Housing Census scheduled for April 2014”.
“These activities are also not connected to the pilot census exercise that took place successfully from March 30 to April 10 in 20 townships around the country, including Sittwe, without any kind of incidents.
“Currently, the government of Myanmar with technical support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is conducting preparatory activities like mapping of enumeration areas, publicity campaigns to inform people on the nature of the census, and consultations with stakeholders on the census process.
“Actual data collection for the 2014 National Population Census will take place from March 29 to April 10, 2014 in all parts of Myanmar. Every person present within the borders of Myanmar on the night of March 29, 2014 will be included in the census.”
Immigration officers visited some camps for internally displaced people in Sittwe township on April 26 to collect data on residents. A dispute broke out at a camp near Thatkepyin village, about 10 kilometres from the state capital Sittwe, when officials tried to record the ethnicity of camp residents as Bengali. Some of the camp’s residents refused, saying they would only sign as Rohingya, and allegedly threw rocks at the officials.
Following reports of the incident, the UN Population Fund issued a statement on May 3 in which it said that “[h]ousehold data collection activities being undertaken in the camps and other sites in Sittwe, Rakhine State, involving the update of family lists by teams composed of several government departments, are unrelated to the National Population and Housing Census scheduled for April 2014”.
“These activities are also not connected to the pilot census exercise that took place successfully from March 30 to April 10 in 20 townships around the country, including Sittwe, without any kind of incidents.
“Currently, the government of Myanmar with technical support from UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, is conducting preparatory activities like mapping of enumeration areas, publicity campaigns to inform people on the nature of the census, and consultations with stakeholders on the census process.
“Actual data collection for the 2014 National Population Census will take place from March 29 to April 10, 2014 in all parts of Myanmar. Every person present within the borders of Myanmar on the night of March 29, 2014 will be included in the census.”
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