Two townships of Western state Rakhine that border Bangladesh and that
have the highest Muslim populations in the state, have started to impose a
two-child limit for Muslim Rohingya families. This policy comes amid the rising
sectarian violence between Buddhists and Muslims that took its peak last month.
Controversially enough, this policy does not apply to Buddhists in the area. It
was unclear how the local government would enforce the rule, but surely the
policy will play into further criticism that Myanmar has to endure, that
Muslims are being discriminated against in the Buddhist-majority country. A
spokesman for Rakhine State, Win Myaing, said the new program was meant to stem
rapid population growth in the Muslim community, which he identified as one of
the causes of the sectarian violence. The measure was enacted a week ago and
will not apply yet to other parts of Rakhine State with smaller Muslim
populations. It is also worth noticing that there have been restrictions on
Rohingyas marrying.
The central government has not made any statement about this two-child policy
yet. President Thein Sein of Myanmar recently made a historical visit to the
U.S. and meet President Obama, in which he was mixed praised for the country's
rapid transition to democracy with a warning that violence against Muslims
"needs to stop."
Read more at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/26/world/asia/a-region-in-myanmar-limits-births-of-muslims.html?ref=asia&gwh=970B8CE551C0F2D895D1833CEB6D39F8&_r=0
By Yen Do
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