A/HRC/39/64 become the key criterion for membership in the country’s political community, creating a common “other”. The military regime has constructed eight major ethnic groups, broken down further into 135 “national races”. The list defines those who “belong” in Myanmar; all others, regardless of how many generations they have lived in Myanmar, are considered outsiders or immigrants. This includes the Rohingya. 4 According to the Tatmadaw, “Despite living among peacocks, crows cannot become peacocks.”5 13. According to the 2014 census, 87.9 per cent of the population of Myanmar is Buddhist, 6.2 per cent Christian, and 4.3 per cent Muslim. While the Bamar are predominantly Buddhist, many other ethnic groups contain large numbers of non-Buddhists. Attempts in the 1960s to designate Buddhism as the State religion were divisive. The Constitution adopted in 2008 recognizes the “special position” of Buddhism, while acknowledging other religions. Since reforms began in 2011, Myanmar has seen an increase in Buddhist nationalism, virulent anti-Muslim rhetoric and violence between Buddhists and Muslims. Among the largest Buddhist nationalist organizations is the Association for the Protection of Race and Religion (known also as “MaBaTha”), which cast itself as the protector of Buddhism. While MaBaTha was nominally disbanded, its successors are still widely supported. 14. Today, the Tatmadaw enjoys greater popularity among the Bamar-Buddhist majority. The violence, particularly the “Rohingya crisis”, has been used by the military to reaffirm itself as the protector of a nation under threat and to cement its political role further. This is remarkable considering its appalling human rights record and the long struggle of the democracy movement against its rule. Myanmar has been a country of concern for the United Nations for 30 years, with resolutions condemning its human rights situation since 1991. For three decades, successive special rapporteurs on the situation of human rights in Myanmar concluded that patterns of human rights violations were widespread and systematic, linked to State and military policy. Allegations of gross human rights violations have continued since 2011 and were the focus of the mission. IV. Emblematic situations 15. The mission focused on three emblematic situations: the crisis in Rakhine State; the hostilities in Kachin and Shan States; and the infringement on the exercise of fundamental freedoms and the issue of hate speech. A. Rakhine State 16. Rakhine State has a poverty rate nearly twice the national average. All communities in Rakhine suffer from poor social services and a scarcity of livelihood opportunities. The State’s two largest groups are the Rakhine Buddhists and the Rohingya Muslims; the former constitutes the majority; the latter, the majority in the north. There are several other ethnic minorities, including the Kaman Muslims. The problems in Rakhine State are often ascribed to poor relations between the Rohingya and the Rakhine, reflective of deeplyrooted grievances and prejudices. Nonetheless, the majority of Rohingya and Rakhine interviewed by the mission indicated that relationships with the other community had been good prior to 2012, citing examples of business dealings and friendships. 4 5 The mission is conscious of the sensitivity concerning the term “Rohingya” in Myanmar, where the group is generally referred to as “Bengali”. The term is used in the present report in accordance with the right to self-identify. “Myanmar Politics and the Tatmadaw”, Tatmadaw, Directorate of the Public Relations and Psychological Warfare, 2018, p. 115. 5