Myanmar: Human Rights Analysis of Biometric Digital ID Systems citizenship under the (now repealed) 1948 citizenship law.45 People may seek naturalised citizenship if they can provide “conclusive evidence” that they entered and resided in Myanmar prior to independence in 194846 or whose parents hold certain specified combinations of citizenship status (unlike the categories for full citizenship, these are based on only one parent having some sort of citizenship status). Applicants must also be eighteen years old, be able to speak one of the national languages and be of good character and sound mind.47 This three-tiered citizenship structure introduces complexities into the process of issuing identity cards. Members of ethnic minority groups that are not on the list of the 135 ethnic groups which are eligible for full citizenship face greater difficulties in obtaining CSCs.48 They may face challenges in meeting the evidentiary and other requirements necessary to show associate or naturalised citizenship. The government has tried alternative approaches to issuing ID cards to them. For example, during the 1990s, the government issues a large number of Temporary Registration Cards. These were originally intended as temporary cards for those who had pending applications for National Registration Cards. However, these Temporary Registration Cards were distributed widely to residents of Rakhine State who could not obtain CSCs and effectively took the place of official ID cards for many years.49 In 2015, the government withdrew the Temporary Registration Cards, required people holding them to surrender them and replaced them with temporary registration “receipts”.50 It then introduced National Verification Cards as a replacement. According to the President Office, the National Verification Cards were intended as a step towards examining whether a person was entitled to become a citizen in accordance with the 1983 Citizenship Law and to acknowledge such persons as Myanmar residents.51 In practice, this process has been controversial, partly because the National Verification Cards do not confer full citizenship rights and some observers believe they are a means of identifying and targeting members of the Rohingya community. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, for example, has criticised the National Verification Card as a “document which denies [the Rohingya] citizenship, leaving them stateless and restricting their access to basic services or free movement.”52 Many Rohingya also oppose the National Verification Cards and are unwilling to obtain one. However, some reports indicate that obtaining a card has effectively been made mandatory, by requiring possession of a card in order to participate in local elections or to obtain 45 Ibid., chapter 3. Ibid., chapter 4. 47 Ibid., section 44(b-e). 48 Julia Wallace, note 39. 49 Arraiza and Vonk, note 38, p. 9. 50 SMILE Myanmar, The Seagull: Human Rights, Peace and Development, Free Rohingya Coalition (FRC), Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK), the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) and The Institute on Statelessness and Inclusion (ISI), Joint Submission to the Human Rights Council, Universal Periodic Review, 9 July 2020 (citing Presidential Notification 15/2015). Available at: https://files.institutesi.org/UPR37_Myanmar.pdf. 51 President Office, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Identity Card for National Verification in Rakhine to Return. Available at: https://www.president-office.gov.mm/en/?q=issues/rakhine-state-affairs/id-7031. 52 Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Oral Update on the Human Rights Situation of Rohingya People, 30 June 2020. Available at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/Pages/NewsDetail.aspx?NewsID=26018&LangID=E. 46 - 10 -