Fighting Imagined Invasions with Administrative Violence (which were rarely applied for) — but rather ‘National Registration Cards’ (‘NRC’), pursuant to the Residents of Burma Registration Act 1949 and its Residents of Burma Registration Rules 1951. 68 The Burma Citizenship Law 1982 included a new card, the ‘Citizenship Scrutiny Card’, which replaced the NRCs and implied a recognition of the citizenship status of the cardholder after ‘scrutiny’. 69 Hence, the government used the implementation of the new citizenship law to deny the Rohingya the issuance of new ‘Citizenship Scrutiny Cards’ and citizenship. This was actually contrary to the provisions of the Burma Citizenship Law 1982, where Rohingyas could have been issued with ‘Naturalised Citizenship Cards’, ‘Associate Citizenship Cards’ or full Citizenship Scrutiny Cards depending on their individual situation. 70 Instead, they were given ‘Temporary Registration Cards’ (also known as ‘white cards’), a temporary document foreseen in the Residents of Burma Registration Rules 1951, arguing that the citizenship status of these persons was in need of further verification. 71 One of the reasons that led to denationalisation was the insistence by immigration officials that the Rohingya officially self-identify as ‘Bengali’ (implying foreign descent and sparking fears of a future deportation). The confrontation between Rohingya and Rakhine political representatives on the depiction of the former as either ‘Bengali’ or ‘Rohingya’ are indigeneity-based arguments where each side seeks to prove which group can claim historically to be a native to Rakhine. 72 The complexity of the history of the region disqualifies any simplistic answer to such questions. As a result of Ne Win’s citizenship policy, close to one million persons were rendered stateless. In addition to being deprived of nationality, a quasi-apartheid regime was imposed in Rakhine from the 1970s up to the present, characterised by undue restrictions on freedom of movement and the discriminatory denial of services. 73 The progressive denationalisation of the Rohingya from the 1970s onwards was followed by policies and practices which led to the forcible displacement of their population across the border to Bangladesh. The partition of Pakistan and the creation of Bangladesh increased the fears of illegal migration and led the government to implement the Burma Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act 1947 restrictively and require all Rakhine inhabitants to carry publicly their identity documents. 74 Further along, in 1978, the implementation of the ‘Operation Naga Min’ (‘Dragon King’), officially aimed to identify illegal 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 Residents of Burma Registration Act 1949, Act No 41 of 1949 (Union of Burma); Residents of Burma Registration Rules 1951 (Union of Burma) r 2 (‘Residents of Burma Registration Rules 1951’). Burma Citizenship Law 1982 ss 4, 8, ch III, IV. ibid. Residents of Burma Registration Rules 1951 (n 68) r 2. Ardeth Maung Thawnghmung, ‘The Politics of Indigeneity in Myanmar: Competing Narratives in Rakhine State’ (2016) 17(4) Asian Ethnicity 527. For an overview of such policies, see Policies of Persecution: Ending Abusive State Policies against Rohingya in Myanmar (Report, Fortify Rights 2014) <https://reliefweb.int/report/myanmar/policies-persecution-ending-abusive-state-policiesagainst-rohingya-muslims-myanmar>. See Burma Immigration (Emergency Provisions) Act 1947, Act No XXI of 1947 (Union of Burma). 205