Tens of thousands of census-takers fanned out across Myanmar on Sunday to gather data for a rare snapshot of the former junta-ruled nation that is already stoking sectarian tensions.
Groups of school teachers and local officials began the 12-day population survey -- the first since 1983 -- travelling from house to house in an ambitious drive aimed at counting everyone across the poverty-stricken nation.
But the census was called into question even before it started in Rakhine state, the site of deadly religious conflict.
A main point of contention is that Muslims will not be able to register as "Rohingya".
Buddhist nationalists threatened to boycott the tally over fears it could lead to official recognition for the Rohingya, a stateless group viewed by the United Nations as among the world's most persecuted minorities.
Muslims in displacement camps who were made homeless in two major bouts of fighting two years ago expressed determination to defy the government edict to register as "Bengali" -- a term used by the authorities, who view most Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
"Fill in the form that you are Rohingya," read a sign scrawled on a wall in one of the bleak camps clustered on the outskirts of the Rakhine capital Sittwe.
"We do not want any problems. I was born here and my parents were also born here. I was born a Myanmar national. For me, I will not register as 'Bengali', I will register as 'Rohingya'," Hla Myint, 58, told AFP.
Foreign aid workers fled Rakhine after Buddhist mobs attacked their offices as tensions escalated in the run-up to the census.
An 11-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet after police fired warning shots to disperse angry crowds in Sittwe.
Humanitarian workers in the region have come under increasing pressure from Buddhist nationalists who accuse them of bias in favour of local Muslims.
- Tensions high in Rakhine -
The state remained tense on Sunday as Buddhists sought confirmation that the Rohingya term would not be allowed.
Backed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the census is aimed at plugging an information deficit in the former military dictatorship.
Critics, who have called for the exercise to be postponed, accuse the organisers of focusing on the technical aspects of the survey and neglecting political concerns.
Myanmar is roughly the size of France with many people living in remote jungles and mountains with barely any infrastructure.
Minority groups make up some 30 percent of the estimated 55 to 60 million population.
This plurality has long been a source of conflict, with the former junta using the many civil conflicts that sprang up at the end of British colonial rule in 1948 as a pretext for their hardline rule.
Several minority groups have expressed misgivings about the use of a controversial list of 135 official ethnicities in the census, fearing it could be used for political purposes.
There are doubts whether Kachin rebels fighting the military in the far north will allow enumerators into their territory.
Many locals, long subject to repressive policies under authoritarian rule, have also expressed suspicion of the move to collect a wide variety of household information -- including questions on movement and economic activity.
But the survey-taking appeared to get off to a smooth start in some areas on Sunday, with teams of counters in white t-shirts visiting homes in the outskirts of the commercial hub Yangon.
"I have no problem. They are asking the right questions and I gave them a true answer. It's good because there will be exact information about who is who and where they live," Tin Shwe, 48, told AFP after completing the questionnaire.
Census taker Khin Moh Moh Tun said each team was tasked with visiting 149 households before the end of the exercise on April 10.
"On the very first day, we will register about six or seven households because we have very little experience doing this kind of thing. It will be faster in the coming days when we get used to it," he told AFP.
Tens of thousands of census-takers fanned out across Myanmar on Sunday to gather data for a rare snapshot of the former junta-ruled nation that is already stoking sectarian tensions.
Groups of school teachers and local officials began the 12-day population survey — the first since 1983 — travelling from house to house in an ambitious drive aimed at counting everyone across the poverty-stricken nation.
But the census was called into question even before it started in Rakhine state, the site of deadly religious conflict.
A main point of contention is that Muslims will not be able to register as “Rohingya”.
Buddhist nationalists threatened to boycott the tally over fears it could lead to official recognition for the Rohingya, a stateless group viewed by the United Nations as among the world’s most persecuted minorities.
Muslims in displacement camps who were made homeless in two major bouts of fighting two years ago expressed determination to defy the government edict to register as “Bengali” — a term used by the authorities, who view most Rohingya as illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.
“Fill in the form that you are Rohingya,” read a sign scrawled on a wall in one of the bleak camps clustered on the outskirts of the Rakhine capital Sittwe.
“We do not want any problems. I was born here and my parents were also born here. I was born a Myanmar national. For me, I will not register as ‘Bengali’, I will register as ‘Rohingya’,” Hla Myint, 58, told AFP.
Foreign aid workers fled Rakhine after Buddhist mobs attacked their offices as tensions escalated in the run-up to the census.
An 11-year-old girl was killed by a stray bullet after police fired warning shots to disperse angry crowds in Sittwe.
Humanitarian workers in the region have come under increasing pressure from Buddhist nationalists who accuse them of bias in favour of local Muslims.
– Tensions high in Rakhine –
The state remained tense on Sunday as Buddhists sought confirmation that the Rohingya term would not be allowed.
Backed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the census is aimed at plugging an information deficit in the former military dictatorship.
Critics, who have called for the exercise to be postponed, accuse the organisers of focusing on the technical aspects of the survey and neglecting political concerns.
Myanmar is roughly the size of France with many people living in remote jungles and mountains with barely any infrastructure.
Minority groups make up some 30 percent of the estimated 55 to 60 million population.
This plurality has long been a source of conflict, with the former junta using the many civil conflicts that sprang up at the end of British colonial rule in 1948 as a pretext for their hardline rule.
Several minority groups have expressed misgivings about the use of a controversial list of 135 official ethnicities in the census, fearing it could be used for political purposes.
There are doubts whether Kachin rebels fighting the military in the far north will allow enumerators into their territory.
Many locals, long subject to repressive policies under authoritarian rule, have also expressed suspicion of the move to collect a wide variety of household information — including questions on movement and economic activity.
But the survey-taking appeared to get off to a smooth start in some areas on Sunday, with teams of counters in white t-shirts visiting homes in the outskirts of the commercial hub Yangon.
“I have no problem. They are asking the right questions and I gave them a true answer. It’s good because there will be exact information about who is who and where they live,” Tin Shwe, 48, told AFP after completing the questionnaire.
Census taker Khin Moh Moh Tun said each team was tasked with visiting 149 households before the end of the exercise on April 10.
“On the very first day, we will register about six or seven households because we have very little experience doing this kind of thing. It will be faster in the coming days when we get used to it,” he told AFP.
