May 1945, the Allies had recaptured Burma, and Japanese forces were pushed back across the Thai border. The years immediately following Britain’s re-entrance into Burma brought the country to the brink of civil war. The conflict with Japan left the country economically devastated, with increased social tensions between Burma’s many ethnic groups running at an all-time high (Seekins, 2006, p. 25). The pre-war government resumed power and was less than welcoming of Aung San and his Anti-Fascist Peoples Freedom League (AFPFL), further antagonizing the Bamars. At the same time, changes were occurring in the British government in England. The new Labour government appeared, headed by Clement Attlee, and with it a new determination to decolonize. This new sentiment led to the drafting of the Aung SanAttlee Agreement in January 1947, which committed both parties to Burmese independence (Seekins, 2006). In anticipation of gaining official independence, Aung San and the AFPFL worked to draft a constitution. It is noteworthy that this first Burmese constitution acknowledged that all citizens of Burma were immigrants although it did not explicitly name Rohingya for full nationality. The Union Citizenship Act of the constitution named Arakanese as indigenous to Arakan. No specification was made concerning the Rakhine or Rohingya ethnic groups. Up to this juncture in Burma’s history, the Rohingya did not yet suffer from a wide-scale crisis of identity or citizenship. They were given National Registration Certificates and enjoyed full legal and voting rights. Throughout the decade of the 1950s, during the country’s brief democratic period under first Prime Minister U Nu, Rohingya 8