Genocide by Attrition 53 For ethnicity, they only allowed “Bengali.” . . . [The officials at immigration] insisted that I write “Bengali,” so I wrote “Bengali.” They know I am a Rohingya, but they said we just know Bengali, no Rohingya . . . I was very disappointed and sad as I could not list my identity.198 A 19-year-old Rohingya man from Minbya Township in Rakhine State similarly described being required to identify as “Bengali” when he obtained an NVC on March 25, 2022.199 He said: “[The authorities] filled out according to details that were on my family registration list. On the family registration list our ethnicity was mentioned as ‘Bengali’ so they mentioned me as ‘Bengali.’”200 The man explained why the authorities require Rohingya to identify as “Bengali,” saying: The reason Myanmar authorities are pressuring us to accept the NVC is because they want to make us illegal immigrants and Bengali people as a strategy to exclude us from citizenship and ethnicity [in Myanmar] . . . Accepting NVC, means you identify yourself as “Bengali immigrants.” We [Rohingya] don’t have any options. We need documents to travel to other cities, like Sittwe or other cities specifically for medical emergencies or business.201 Immigration authorities in Rakhine State also made it clear to the man that citizenship was not an option for Rohingya. He said: I requested to the immigration officer [name withheld], “Can I apply for a citizenship card instead of an NVC? I want to apply for a citizenship card like the Rakhine community does.” He said, “No” . . . The official at the immigration office said, “You don’t have the same rights as the Rakhine and cannot get citizenship at this moment.”202 The junta also continues to use tactics, which were also used under State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi’s administration, to pressure Rohingya into accepting the NVC.203 For example, a 57-year-old Rohingya man from northern Rakhine State told Fortify Rights how immigration officials came to his village in July 2021. 204 He said: [The officers] told us to take the NVC, explaining that, “No one can stay here without taking the NVC. This is not your country. You have to accept this, and then you need to apply for citizenship.” Like that, they pressured us so much. It was officers from immigration department themselves who came to the village.205 A Rohingya man from Maungdaw Township, who spent nearly five years in detention, told Fortify Rights how the junta forced him to accept the NVC to obtain his release in April 2021, saying: “[Junta prison and immigration officers] forced us to take it [the NVC]. Otherwise, they would not free us . . . They required many signatures from us on different papers. They mention us as ‘Bengali’ in the NVC [application form].”206 there will be many restrictions and it will take a lot of time. First, we have to go to the Buthidaung immigration office and then we have to go to the district immigration office in Maungdaw. If the district office refuses us, we can’t go.” See, Kyaw Hsan Hlaing, “Myanmar’s Military Coup Prolongs Misery for Rohingya in Rakhine,” Al Jazeera, January 6, 2022, https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/1/6/rohingya-myanmar-restrictions-on-freedom-of-movement. 198 Fortify Rights interview with B.B., Rakhine State, Myanmar, April 4, 2022. 199 Fortify Rights interview with B.D., Rakhine State, Myanmar, April 5, 2022. 200 Ibid. 201 Ibid. 202 Ibid. 203 An aid worker in Myanmar told Fortify Rights in March 2022: “There seems to be no major differences in the NVC process pre-or-post-coup. Perhaps one difference might be that NVC applicants are now required to travel to the immigration office in town, which is costly.” Fortify Rights communication with B.Z., undisclosed location, Myanmar, March 14, 2022. 204 Fortify Rights interview with A.G., Rakhine State, Myanmar, September 24, 2021. 205 Ibid. 206 Fortify Rights interview with Z.F., Rakhine State, Myanmar, May 29, 2021.