IINA – 06

Myanmar: Muslims playing their rightful role

Yangoon, Safar 25/May 8,2002 (IINA) – The Muslims of Myanmar (formerly Burma), who number 4,000,000 out of a total population of 53 million, are playing their rightful role in the country’s economic and social life. They are mainly involved in business and live in the main cities.

In the capital, Yangoon, there are not less than 100 mosques, while there are 700 more in other parts of the country. There is a Muslim body of scholars known as the Council of Myanmar Scholars, and it is this body that coordinates all the activities concerning Muslims and serves their interests. There are more 135 ethnic groups in Myanmar, living in the country’s 14 provinces, including Arakan, Rohingya, Kayana, Karin, and others.

The Muslims in Myanmar are also playing their part in the industrial development of the country, and at one import and export company that is owned by a Muslim, 95 percent of the workers are non-Muslim, but working alongside their Muslim compatriots. But that is not to say that Muslims in all parts of the country are treated the same, for the Muslims in the Arakan region in the south of the country are regarded as immigrants from Bangladesh, and are treated in a less humane way by the government of Myanmar.