PANTHAY AND ROHINGYA: DEALING WITH CITIZENTSHIP IN MYANMAR

Neither ethnic and religious background nor historical root could likely explain the fact that most Panthay have been granted Burmese citizenship while the Rohingya have not. Both groups are not adhering to the majority‟s religion nor belong to the major ethnic groups. Also, their ancestors were not considered native nor settled in Myanmar before British colonization. This fact triggers question of how these similarities resulted in different outcomes. Therefore, this paper attempts to explain this issue of citizenship by looking at resistance shown by Rohingya and Panthay. This paper argues that different forms of resistance contribute to the denial of Rohingya citizenship but inclusion of the Panthay