Fighting Imagined Invasions with Administrative Violence prior to 4 January 1948. 49 Second, a person born in or outside of Myanmar to parents who are a specific combination of ‘citizen’, ‘associate citizen’, ‘naturalised citizen’ or ‘foreigner’. 50 Third, a child whose name is included in one of their parents’ successful application for naturalised citizenship is a ‘naturalised citizen’ following a formal oath by the child upon reaching 18 years of age. 51 With exceptions, overall, persons not belonging to the 135 recognised ethnic groups are placed in a more vulnerable position, in line with the nativist understanding of the hierarchy of ethnic groups (with them being at the bottom end). Thus, the law provides a safeguard against a ‘citizen’ automatically losing citizenship merely by marriage to a foreigner. 52 However, such protection is only applicable for ‘full citizens’ and not ‘associate citizens’ or ‘naturalised citizens’. 53 The framework facilitates the deprivation of citizenship for persons of Indian or Chinese origin (or otherwise non-Taingyintha) if they migrate outside of Myanmar for a long period of time or permanently. Thus, an individual ceases to be a ‘citizen’, ‘associate citizen’ or ‘naturalised citizen’ when he or she leaves Myanmar permanently, acquires or registers as the citizen of another country, or acquires a passport or ‘similar certificate of another country’. 54 Of note, gender plays a significant role in citizenship policy in Myanmar. First of all, the implementation of the Burma Citizenship Law 1982 has been observed to have a significant impact on women, despite the law being gender neutral. 55 Moreover, nativist policies have led to discriminatory legislation aimed at restricting the marriage of Buddhist women to those understood as illegitimate ‘others’ (eg Muslims, persons of Chinese or Indian descent). 56 The marriage of such women to persons of another religion and ethnicity is understood ultimately as a threat to the nation. The latest manifestation of such policies from a legislative point of view are the 2015 special laws for the defence of race and religion, including the Buddhist Women Special Marriage Law and Law on the Practice of Monogamy. 57 The package of four laws adopted in 2015 and supported by the Buddhist ultra nationalist organization Ma Ba Tha also included the Law for Health Care Relating to Control of Population Growth, 58 aimed at controlling the demographic growth of Muslims and the 2015 Religion Conversion law, aimed at limiting conversions of Buddhists to other religions. 59 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 Burma Citizenship Law 1982 (n 18) s 42. ibid s 43. ibid s 47. See also Procedures Relating to Myanmar Citizenship Law, 1983 (1983 Procedures relating to Naturalised Citizenship), Notification 15/83 (Union of Myanmar). ibid s 15. ibid s 15(a). This is contained within Burma Citizenship Law 1982 (n 18) ch II, which applies only to type 1 ‘citizenship’. Burma Citizenship Law 1982 (n 18) ss 16, 34, 57. A Gender Analysis of the Right to a Nationality in Myanmar (n 39). See Mazumder (n 25). Buddhist Women Special Marriage Law, Law No 50/2015 (Union of Myanmar); Law on the Practice of Monogamy, Law No 54/2015 (Union of Myanmar). Law for Health Care Relating to Control of Population Growth, Law No 28/2015 (Union of Myanmar). See, Myanmar: Parliament Must Reject Discriminatory Race and Religion Laws (Joint Statement ASA 16/1107/2015, Amnesty International and the International Commission of Jurists 3 March 2015) <https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ASA1611072015ENGLISH.pdf>. 203