The United Nations Population Fund has responded to reports that riots this week in the Rakhine State capital, Sittwe, were linked to tensions over the census due to begin on March 30.
The riots, in which mobs attack international NGO and UN offices in Sittwe, follow protests in Rakhine State against the term “Rohingya” being allowed as an ethnic category in the census.
“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,” the UNFPA said in the statement, issued on Yangon on March 28.
“This commitment cannot be honoured selectively in the face of intimidation or threats of violence,” it said.
“Reliable census data can only come from an enumeration in which the safety and security of enumerators and respondents is assured.
“Respondents must feel safe to answer all questions freely and enumerators must be able to record the answers faithfully, without fear or intimation.”
The UNFPA said official action to address security concerns during the census must not compromise the commitment to uphold international standards and human rights principles.
“Any measure adopted must guarantee the right of all people to participate in a census that is conducted in a fair, inclusive and uniform manner in every state and for every community,” it said.
The UNFPA has provided technical assistance to the government for the census, which will be the first in Myanmar in more than 30 years.
