26 > Next Generation Myanmar C A S E S T U DY: E T H N I C I T Y ‘It is important for me to mention my Pa’O identity. I am proud of being Pa’O, and I love my ethnicity. I like when people greet me and ask me if I am a Pa’O.’ To discuss identity in Myanmar is to discuss ethnicity. When asked how they self-identify, youth most often first spoke of the ethnic group they belonged to. They shared that ethnic identity is important to young people, and shapes their everyday interactions with others. Many also expressed a desire for an inclusive, national identity for each ethnic group in Myanmar. Ethnicity is a central fault line in Myanmar’s civil conflicts. Ongoing warfare has politicised many identities, as ethnic armed groups and the Tatmadaw compete for allegiance, particularly in border states. Minorityethnic groups have resisted what they have called ‘Burmanisation’ policies, such as education and language restrictions, that began under military rule. Ethnic armed groups have responded with calls for selfdetermination, while also fighting for economic control and access to natural resources. Youth in Myanmar have had to navigate life in this context of conflict. Many youth consulted in this study shared grievances with ethnic identity, from everyday discrimination (‘Some despise my ethnicity. In school, some do not want me to sit next to them’) to structural oppression (‘Ethnic people say that the Bamar dominate them, they impose on them Burmanisation’). Access to National Registration Cards (NRCs) was often cited as a frequent case of discrimination, as many ethnic minorities feel they are denied the card to bar them from social services and job opportunities. ‘In applying for jobs, particularly for civil servant postings, Bamar people get special preference, while Kachin applicants are neglected. For schoolteacher posts, hardly one out of 100 applicants who are appointed are Kachin. It is the same for the other civil servant postings too. And it is also the same for other minority-ethnic groups. The Burma/ Buddhist NRC holders have the privilege in getting government jobs.’ Survey results suggest that this kind of discrimination is common: nearly a fifth of all respondents and a third of all respondents identifying as an ethnic minority in their area said they had concrete experience with ethnic discrimination over the past year. Many youth interviewed in this study felt that the ‘ethnocentric’ ideas fuelling such discrimination were damaging to the country: ‘If we look at Shan and Kachin, of course there are ethnocentric people. […] Youths cannot go against the label put on them: their ethnic identity. Kachin will recruit only Kachin people. None of these groups are able to work effectively because they only recruit people of their own ethnic grouping. It leads to rivalry especially when one group is stronger than another.’ ‘I believe it is good to have an ethnic identity and for it to be displayed on the [National Registration Card]. But what is important is not to have ethnocentric feeling. It is fine to be willing to protect our culture, identity, but it should be made without ethnocentrism.’ Nonetheless, many youth felt their ethnic identity was important, and wanted to see it preserved. Several youth consulted in this study expressed a pride in their particular ethnic group and an anxiety that its particular language customs may fade away. ‘The Sgaw Karen identity is important to me. I need to be able to speak, read and write it. However, I do not know much about how to read and write it […] The government is supporting the ethnic languages, but it is definitely not sufficient. If we do not do anything, the next generation may not be able to talk Sgaw or Pwo anymore. My concern is that one day our dialect may come to an end. One day will come that we will only be able to speak [Myanmar] […] Little by little, our language will become obsolete.’ Some youth have begun to organise around the preservation of ethnic identities. Numerous associations, festivals, libraries and Facebook groups have sprung up around particular ethnic identities, through which young people learn about a given culture and its practices. A 23-year-old student from Rakhine spoke about his mission to increase awareness about his ethnic group, the Thet, complaining that: ‘Some people have never heard about Thet ethnicity in their life. Even in Rakhine, there are people who still don’t know us.’ He had participated in the Rakhine Youth Forum, and ‘the authorities in that forum asked our ethnicity when they saw our costumes. When I answered that we were “Thet”, even the authorities like them said that they have never heard of it.’ He reasoned that because of this, ‘it is necessary to determine what “Thet” ethnicity is, and to talk about it. So we are now working on developing and determining Thet literature and history.’ Youth in his area, he explained, have ‘mobilised to organise the “Thet Youth Network”, to publish books, and to start teaching.’