(YANGON, June 2023 )—In June 2023, the National Unity Government (NUG) of Myanmar announced that its Cabinet approved the replacement of Myanmar’s problematic 1982 Citizenship Law that denies equal access to full citizenship rights for Rohingya and others in the country. The NUG shared information on the new law in a briefing paper submitted to the Human Rights Council on June 21, 2023. According to the paper, the new law “protects against statelessness and bases citizenship on birth in Myanmar or birth anywhere as a child of Myanmar citizens.”
Previously, the NUG also committed to abolishing the National Verification Card (NVC) system, which identifies Rohingya as foreigners and erases their identity.
Fortify Rights has long advocated for amending the 1982 Citizenship Law and abolishing the NVC process. In our reports “Tools of Genocide” and “Genocide by Attrition,” Fortify Rights documented evidence of how NVCs are used to further the genocide, and we provided strong recommendations to abolish the NVC process and restore equal access to full citizenship rights for Rohingya. Since the coup d’état, Fortify Rights actively engaged with NUG officials and others on restoring fundamental rights for the Rohingya community.