Limit on Muslim births threatens Myanmar reforms

MYANMAR is about to impose a two-child limit on Muslim Rohingya families in two townships of western Rakhine state. The policy is straightforward discrimination, as it will not be applied to the country's majority-Buddhist population.

The new policy to limit Muslim children is a perhaps the most obvious example of modern-day ethno-religious discrimination seen anywhere. It has already provoked strong criticism..

A full democracy -- as Myanmar is telling the world it is going to be -- is an open society that respects the basic rights and equality of all its citizens, whom it represents. Any move by the state to eliminate or limit the population of one segment of society is therefore grossly undemocratic and also muddle-headed. Such a policy will never solve ethno-religious conflict in Myanmar, but instead only serve to fuel further division and dispute in society.

There would be no such problem if Myanmar merely wanted to limit the growth of its whole population. Many countries control the birth rate, but such efforts are applied across the entire populace, not targeted at particular groups in particular places. Such policies follow the broad principle that controlling the birth rate should not be based on racism or racial discrimination.

Muslims might be the majority in the two townships, but this group of the population accounts for only 4 per cent of the total 60 million living in Myanmar. If the current government feels that a population of 60 million is too many and wants to reduce that number, it could impose its two-child policy on all families, irrespective of creed or credo.

However it should be borne in mind that, from a practical perspective, this kind of birth-rate control policy will never work. China's one-child policy is a good example. It created more problems than it solved, as Chinese families often favour sons over daughters.

The best way to solve the sectarian conflict in Myanmar is not by supporting crude social engineering but by campaigning to change the mindset of the country's elite so that they accept their Muslim compatriots as a crucial part of the nation-building process now under way. The government and state authorities need to offer equality of treatment and protection to all ethnic and religious groups.

As the man leading his country's reform process, President Thein Sein, enjoys telling the world, Myanmar is committed to being an open and democratic society. But equality is a fundamental principle of democracy. The president should not allow discrimination to jeopardise the journey to full democracy.

©The Nation (Thailand). All rights reserved. Reprinted by arrangement with Asian News Network.