Myanmar MPs citizenship to be probed
Published on Sunday, 28 April 2013 19:53
Some parliamentarians of Myanmar are under investigation whether they are national citizens, says a government minister adding that the probe will be carried out with concrete evidence as they are officially elected MPs.
Khin Yi, Immigration and Population Minister, said to Rakhine national Khaing Aung Kyaw during a meeting with the Myanmar families living in New York of the United States on Monday when he was accompanying a Myanmar delegation to the US last week.
Khaing Aung Kyaw raised a question if there was any plan to probe the citizenship of some MPs, including MP Shwe Maung from Myanmar's western state of Rakhine.
In his reply Minister Khin Yi said: "a complaint over the citizenship of those MPs came to us one month before the New Year Thingyan festival. Investigators only asked us to check whether those MPs' ancestors were born in Myanmar. Inspections have to be made according to the rules and regulations of the election commission. We are also checking the complaint letter again, and the process has not yet finished. We are doing it with firm evidence as the citizenship issue of an officially-elected MP must be addressed by showing an alibi."
According to the law, if one living in the country is not a national citizen, one must have entered the country illegally. He or she will face legal action by being fined and jailed, the minister added.
Shwe Maung is an MP representing the ruling Union Solidarity and Development party. He won a seat in the Lower House of Parliament after winning the election in Buthidaung township constituency in western state of Rakhine in 2010, where two waves of communal violence broke out between Rakhine nationals and Bengali Muslims last year.
He is reported to be a staunch supporter of amendments to the 1982 Citizenship Law.
Source: http://www.news.myanmaronlinecentre.com/2013/04/29/myanmar-mps-citizenship-to-be-probed/
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