274 Southwick country ‘must be connected to the emergence of a more inclusive national identity. Myanmar people of all backgrounds and all faiths – Buddhist, Christian, Hindu and others – must feel part of this new national identity.’59 Because the citizenship law defines the relationship of individuals to each other and the state, reviewing the law is inherent to the process of forging an inclusive national identity. Whether or not the law is amended, to be consistent with constitutional principles and international obligations, the law should be applied without discrimination and guarantee citizens equal rights regardless of how citizenship is acquired. Applicants should be able to acquire citizenship insofar as they possess a ‘genuine and effective link’ to Myanmar.60 Birth registration and citizenship for all children who would otherwise be stateless should be automatic. The law should be interpreted and applied so as to avoid statelessness,61 which could mean adjusting evidentiary standards to take into account the lack of documentation wrought by conflict, displacement, and poverty. To further promote inclusivity and equality, discriminatory laws and regulations should be repealed and economic policies should seek to engage and benefit all communities, ethnic Rakhine and Muslim, within the resource-rich state. Increasing social acceptance of the Rohingya and resolving the group’s legal status will ultimately depend on the Myanmar Government’s political will to take concrete action. In turn, the government’s commitment will be important for enabling regional and international actors to act according to their own 59 60 61 Chatham House Speech (n 46). Nottebohm case (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala) (Preliminary Objections) [1955] 22-23 (setting out a theory which has since become an international standard for recognising nationality based on a ‘genuine and effective link,’ where factors establishing factual ties to a country may vary but may include habitual residence, family ties, participation in public life, attachment shown by the individual to a given country, or the centre of the individual’s interests). See also ‘Benjamin Zawacki (n 12) 20 (recommending that ‘Rohingyas born in Myanmar who would otherwise be stateless should be granted citizenship, as should those who are not born there but are able to establish a genuine and effective link to the country’); Melanie Teff and Sarnata Reynolds, ‘Rohingya in Burma: Spotlight on Current Crisis Offers Opportunity for Progress,’ Refugees International (30 October 2012) 3 (suggesting that Parliament’s Committee on the Rule of Law ‘clarify that [the citizenship law] provides citizenship to all those born in or with genuine and effective links to Burma, as well as their descendants’). Introductory Note by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Reduction of Statelessness Convention (n 53) 3 (‘Underlying the 1961 Convention is the notion that while States maintain the right to elaborate the content of their nationality laws, they must do so in compliance with international norms relating to nationality, including the principle that statelessness should be avoided.’). tilburg law review 19 (2014) 261-275