30. First, the design and construction of MoLIP offices often does not meet the needs of people living with disabilities. For example, MoLIP offices often do not have wheelchair accessibility or accessibility for people with vision and hearing impairments.36 31. Second, PLWD often face barriers in travelling to MoLIP offices, due to poor public transportation in Myanmar. This is particularly an issue for PLWD in remote and rural areas, where MoLIP officers can be a significant distance away. For example, in a remote village in Loikaw in Kayah State, in 2017 the Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion interviewed the mother of a 16-year old female who is physically disabled and who has been unable to obtain a CSC. She explained: “There is no help for a disabled person. Government offices are far, we need to ask people for help to give us a lift in their car because my daughter cannot walk or sit on motorcycle”.37 32. Applicants for citizenship documentation may be required to travel several times to MoLIP. This is because MoLIP may request the applicant to provide supplementary documentation or information in support of their application.38 In such circumstances the physical distance to MoLIP offices may be an insurmountable barrier to obtaining documentation.39 This is especially the case for marginalised communities who may not have the resources to take time off work to travel to attend appointments with MoLIP.40 Attitudes and assumptions by MoLIP 33. The report by the Myanmar Federation of Persons with Disabilities and Myanmar Disabled People Organizations to the Committee states “Some PWDs41 are not allowed to register for national identity cards and they are not recognized as citizens and they have no opportunity to enjoy these rights”.42 34. This was confirmed during interviews by the Statelessness Network Asia Pacific with PLWD, parents of PWLD and with representatives from disability rights organisations in Yangon State, Mandalay Region, Mon State and Kachin State in 2017 and 2018. For example, in August 2017, a disability rights organisation in Mandalay reported to that it is common for “MoLIP to refuse a PLWD a citizenship card, saying the person doesn’t need to travel or work”. Similar assumptions were reported as being held by township administrators when considering whether to issue a travel authorization to a PLWD without citizenship documentation.43 36 Interviews by Statelessness Network Asia Pacific with disability rights organisations in Yangon in 2018 and 2019 and Mandalay in 2018. 37 Navigating with a Faulty Map: Access to Civil Documents and Citizenship in South East Myanmar (forthcoming). 38 A Gender Analysis on the Right to A Nationality in Myanmar, page 16. 39 Navigating with a Faulty Map: Access to Civil Documents and Citizenship in South East Myanmar, (forthcoming). 40 A Gender Analysis on the Right to A Nationality in Myanmar, page 16. 41 Persons with disabilities (“PWD”). 42 Report by the Myanmar Federation of Persons with Disabilities and Myanmar Disabled People Organizations to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, 10 July 2018, INT_CRPD_ICO_MMR_31739_E, para 3.9, page 23. 43 “Travel authorisations” are issued by township administrators to persons without citizenship documentation and have a specified timeframe in which a person can travel to and from particular locations. See A Gender Analysis on the Right to A Nationality in Myanmar, footnote 126. 8