ADVISORY COMMISSION ON RAKHINE STATE 2. 1982 Citizenship Law Changes in the country over the past 35 years have highlighted some deficiencies in the citizenship law, which currently create tension between communities, lead to frustration for those who are not citizens, contradict recent laws, including the 2008 constitution, and fall short of international standards, including those which Myanmar has approved. The manner in which the law has been applied over the past decades has not done justice to the credible claims of communities who have been living in the country for generations. Of these the Muslims in Rakhine state are the largest but certainly not the only group. The developments described below show how, through a process of gradual disenfranchisement, these Muslims gradually became marginalized and particularly vulnerable. Several aspects of the 1982 Citizenship Law are not in compliance with international standards and norms – such as the principle of non-discrimination under international law – as well as international treaties signed by Myanmar. Most notably, the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – ratified by Myanmar – requires states to respect, protect and fulfill the right of every child to acquire a nationality “in accordance with their national law and their obligations under the relevant international instruments in this field, in particular where the child would otherwise be stateless.”7 Although granting a birth certificate does not guarantee citizenship in that particular country, the Committee on the Rights of the Child has concluded that the best interests of the child generally require the acquisition of citizenship as soon as possible after birth and, specifically, that children should not have to wait until they turn eighteen to apply for citizenship. States should endeavour to grant citizenship to children born in the state who would otherwise be stateless.8 Over the decades since independence, successive governments have adopted legal and administrative measures that progressively eroded the political and civil rights of the Muslim communities in Rakhine State. Prior to the military coup in 1962, the community enjoyed some degree of recognition, and was for a short while allotted a designated administrative area in northern Rakhine. The situation deteriorated during military rule, and in both 1978 and 1991, large-scale, heavy-handed government campaigns pushed more than 200,000 Muslims across the border into Bangladesh (on both 7 Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, which entered into force on 2 September 1990, and was ratified by Myanmar on 15 July 1991. 8 For a detailed analysis of the issues addressed under the CRC and the approach that the Committee on the Rights of the Child has taken to this issue, see Addressing the Right to Nationality through the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion, June 2016. FINAL REPORT 29