A London-based rights group criticised Myanmar’s National Verification Card (NVC) process, calling it a “barrier to Rohingya return”.
The process aims to “further marginalize the Rohingya”, Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) said in a report. "It [NVC] ultimately enhances apartheid conditions in Rakhine State,” the group said. The Myanmar government has long been pushing Rohingya to accept NVC, claiming that it will enable them with access to public services. However, the Rohingya have repeatedly rejected it saying the move would exacerbate their sufferings as the NVC appears to identify them as Bengali, rejecting their original ethnic identity Rohingya.
The report -- titled NVC: A Barrier To Rohingya Repatriation -- was prepared in cooperation with Queen Mary University of London’s International State Crime Initiative. “[It] disputes claims by the administration of Myanmar that the NVC is being used as a stepping stone to citizenship for the Rohingya,” read the report.
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