An MP from the Mon State Hluttaw said ethnic people are losing their rights in the Mon State due to lack of household registrations and national registration cards (NRCs).
State Hluttaw MP Daw Khine Khine Lei from Thaton Constituency – 2 raised a question during the parliamentary session of the Mon State Hluttaw on May 30 to ask whether the state government has any plan to issue household registrations and NRCs for them as a special arrangement.
She said the ethnic people are living scattered in remote areas, which have limited access to communication and travel as they have been designated as black and brown areas in the past.
“These children can only attend university and get job opportunities if they have NRCs. These children are facing many difficulties because their parents and grandparents didn’t have household registrations and NRCs,” said Daw Khine Khine Lei.
She explained that the education and health sectors need to become developed in the remote areas as the state becomes developed after obtaining peace. The children need birth records to attend school and they needed to be added to the household registrations in order to apply for NRCs.
In response to the question, the Mon State Minister of Planning, Finance, Immigration and Population U Wunna Kyaw said the state government is unable to issue NRCs without household registrations.
“In order to issue NRCs in our state, first of all, they need to have household registrations. NRCs can only be issued with household registrations. Our state cannot issue NRCs without them. We can only do it after respective law and procedures have been amended so only the union-level can decide on this,” said U Wunna Kyaw.
He continued that his department alone cannot issue household registrations and it needs to cooperate with respective departments and work in line with existing law. According to existing law, bylaw, and procedures, NRCs can only be issued after household registrations have been issued.
“What do the ethnic people have to do to get household registrations? They cannot apply for NRCs without household registrations. So, please answer whether the state government has any plans to arrange household registrations for them,” said State Hluttaw Speaker Daw Tin Ei.
The minister replied that he cannot answer the question as it was very broad and he will submit it to the state cabinet first and submit to the state hluttaw after receiving an answer.
A total of 469,621 people above the age of ten do not have identity cards in the Mon State even though they are listed in the household registrations, making up 28.5 percent of the state’s population, according to the 2014 census.
