“We will not register it, if a household wants to identify themselves as Rohingya,” the presidential spokesperson told the reporters at a recent press conference at Rangoon Divisional Parliament.

Ye Htut called the conference following the recent violence in Arakan state capital Sittwe. Both foreign and domestic aid workers fled the restive western state of Arakan State from March 27-28 after their offices and residences were ransacked by mobs angry about the alleged mishandling of a Buddhist flag.

Initially the government was vague about how they will handle the thorny issues of ethnicity in the census. Nowhere on the guidelines or in the census was itself the word Rohingya even mentioned.

Yet it was widely believed by both international observers and Rakhine nationals the “other” category in the race section gave participants the freedoms decide their ethnicity.  

Initially Rakhine Buddhists boycotted the census, over fears it would lead to official recognition for the Rohingya and then political rights for the group. As part this they placed Buddhist flags in their homes and business. The removal of one of one of these flags at Malteser International sparked the recent violence.

State government officials have refuse to register Rohingya by their name in the census, but will allow them to use Bengali, implying they come from Bangladesh, said local MP Aung Mya Kyaw.

U Zaw Aye Maung, a Rakhine ethnic minister in Yangon, said there was are no Rohingya in Myanmar, only Bengali.

The United Nations Population Fund has expressed great concern over the recent violence targeting foreign aid workers providing aid for Rohingyas.

“In accordance with international standards and human rights principles, and as part of its agreement with the UN and donors, the Government has made a commitment that everyone who is in the country will be counted in the census, and all respondents will have the option to self-identify their ethnicity. This commitment cannot be honoured selectively in the face of intimidation or threats of violence.”

U Ye Htut violated both international standards and human rights principles, said Halim, a human rights watchdog from Maungdaw.

The Burmese and Rakhine government have denied all the evidence that Rohingya are an ethnic group from Arakan state, Halim said.

Many Rohingya believe they have a master plan to drive out all the aid group staff prior to census collection, said Hamid, a Sittwe school teacher. They want to remove all who would be witness to their abuses of the Muslim community during census collections, he said.

Malteser’s country coordinator, Johannes Kaltenbach said the attacks on his office and others were organized, suggesting a coordinated effort to force out foreign aid staff.

NGO staff won’t be witnesses if incidents like last month’s alleged massacre of Du Chee Ya Tan take place during the census, said another NGO staff.