Analysis: Current Landscape of Hate Speech in Myanmar monk named U Sittagu alluded to fables about ancient kings who slaughtered “lesser” beings but received no karmic consequences for their act of killing because not all lives are valued the same.203 The particular threat of Islam A narrative framing of non-Buddhist religions and non-Bamar ethnic groups as threats has portrayed Islam in particular as a violent religion that threatens to overpower and destroy the union. One activ- ist explained that “everyone is afraid” because of rumors about Islamization quickly spreading across the country.204 CSOs and human rights organizations have concluded hate speech played a significant role in incitement of genocide against the Rohingya.205 Case Study: Altered Identities A Bamar Muslim interviewee told us that in the past, their ID card accurately reflected both their ethnicity and religion.206 However, when they renewed their ID card, they were told by the government office in Yangon that, if they wanted to list Islam as their religion, they could not list just Bamar as their ethnicity.207 Instead, they were told that they would be registered as “Thway Nhaw” (mixed blood). The officers gave them a choice to select Bamar in conjunction with either Indian, Bangladeshi, or Pakistani ethnicities. The interviewee said that even though their family has no connection to any of these countries, they were labeled as a foreigner and mixed blood in their own country with one stroke of the officer’s pen. They felt that this must be a new, unspoken policy of the Ministry of Labour, Immigration and Population because it has become the standard practice for most if not all Burmese/Bamar Muslims. The interviewee’s experience reflected what many CSOs including those that are part of the Burma UPR Forum have recounted as well.208 The interviewee’s new identity card with “(Bengali + Bamar) + (Indian + Bamar)/Islam” listed in the ethnicity field indicating their status as a Thway Nhaw (mixed blood). Please see the image in the following page. 203 204 205 206 207 208 Facebook post from November 1, 2018 (accessed February 15, 2020): https://www.facebook.com/ watch/?v=1871396312900824. 001-R1-01, 4. See, e.g., Progressive Voice, “Home is Where the Hate Speech is: Rhetoric of Hate and Violence in Context of Genocide, Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes in Myanmar, September 2018. MS-R1-01, 2. Ibid. A coalition of 28 human rights and civil society organizations formed in 2010, focused on “Thway Nhaw”identiy card issue as one of the main focus of their 2020 submission to the UN Human Rights Council. 43