through a series of well documented atrocity crimes, which displaced over 750,000 Rohingya and have been internationally condemned as crimes against humanity and genocide. 5. The violence and genocide committed against the Rohingya is the result of decades of structural ethnoreligious discrimination. A key element of this discrimination is the deprivation of nationality, which legitimises incorrect narratives of the Rohingya as “illegal" immigrants who pose threats to stability and security. 6. Religious discrimination is codified into Myanmar law. The 1982 Citizenship Law grants citizenship based on the concept of “national races,” creating a hierarchy of citizenship. Those not considered ‘indigenous’ national groups only have access to a lower, less secure form of ‘naturalised’ citizenship. This discriminatory law is further implemented in a discriminatory manner, and has been central to a long-term strategy to make life within Myanmar untenable for the Rohingya =, rendering them stateless. The 2008 Myanmar Constitution recognises Buddhism as the “special religion”. This exacerbates legal hierarchies which subject ethno-religious minorities to further discrimination and disadvantage.8 In 2015, Myanmar enacted four, highly discriminatory laws that target religious minorities, especially women, by controlling their marital and reproductive freedoms.9 7. The discriminatory and coercive National Verification Card (NVC) programme further undermines Rohingya claims to citizenship, by labelling cardholders as “foreigners”. At times, authorities have forced Rohingya at gunpoint to accept these identity cards,10 and subjected them to torture and arbitrary restrictions of movement and access to work.11 The holders of NVCs are barred from applying for citizenship. 12 8. Rohingya Muslims are further subject to laws and practices that restrict their right of freedom of religion or belief. In 2016, government forces demolished mosques and Islamic religious schools in Rakhine State, building military bases on this land in 2018. Non-state actors have committed similar crimes with impunity. Mobs have attacked and destroyed Muslim mosques and prayer halls, with little to no government intervention. 13 In 2012 alone, 32 mosques and 22 monasteries were destroyed.14 Muslims have also been banned from praying in public spaces during Ramadan. 9. Political and religious leaders also engage in hate speech. The Myanmar government often refers to the Rohingya as ‘Bengalis’, furthering the discriminatory idea that they do not belong. The term “ko win Bengali”15 was promulgated by the U Thein Sein government, with the intention of further 8 Nyi Nyi Kyaw, Freedom of Religion, the Role of the State, and Interreligious Relations in Myanmar, (International Centre for Ethnic Studies, ed. 2018). 9 Citizenship and Human Rights in Myanmar: Why Law Reform is Urgent and Possible, A Legal Briefing (June 2019), https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Myanmar-Citizenship-law-reform-Advocacy-Analysis-Brief-2019-ENG.pdf (PDF). 10 Myanmar Forces Rohingya to Accept Cards That Preclude Citizenship, Reuters, Sept. 3 2019. 11 Id. 12 Id. 13 Nyi Nyi Kyaw, Freedom of Religion, the Role of the State, and Interreligious Relations in Myanmar, (International Centre for Ethnic Studies, ed. 2018). 14 Id. 15 This translates as “Benagli(s) who have illegally entered”.