Former Myanmar lawmaker Shwe Maung was presented with a stark choice: Use the term “Rohingya” or lose his political career in July 2015. His account brings back to light Myanmar’s longstanding Rohingya identity crisis, where identity, citizenship and political rights are all intertwined.
Shwe Maung remembers his meeting with senior USDP official U Aung Thaung. He states that Aung Thaung told him to abandon advocacy of the Rohingya identity and have their constituents refer to themselves as “Bengali.” They were shown as a possible pathway to citizenship documents and to political participation, he states. His nomination was contingent upon him accepting the offer, he says.
Shwe Maung refused. He doesn’t want his community to give up their identity for the potential of rights. He quotes Aung Thaung as saying the job was given to him by the party’s leaders, former President Thein Sein and the military’s leader Min Aung Hlaing. Shwe Maung says he didn’t hear either leader say this himself, but that Aung Thaung said it to him.
From Lawmaker to Rejected Candidate
In 2010, Shwe Maung was elected as a USDP member of parliament. He claims to have resigned on August 4, 2015, and applied to run as an independent two days later. Election officials, however, on Aug. 22, denied him the candidacy, stating that his parents were not Myanmars when he was born in 1965. The decision was upheld by state and Union election officials in September.
According to him, this is in contradiction with a certificate dated January 10, 2011, that stated he was an elected representative and that he had a citizenship card. These are his own accounts but do not provide evidence that he was disqualified because of his refusal to change his public stance.
A Wider Denial of Political Rights
Human Rights Watch reported that Myanmar’s 2015 cancellation of temporary “white cards” removed voting rights from about 700,000 Rohingya, as well as tens of thousands of ethnic Chinese and Indians. Election rules also required candidates to show that both parents were Myanmar citizens.
The crisis extends beyond elections. Government of Bangladesh and UNHCR figures listed 1,200,171 Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh as of June 30, 2026, including 1,166,352 in Cox’s Bazar.
Why Identity and Rights Must Go Together
Shwe Maung’s account of the private conversation remains his testimony, not independent proof of what each leader said or authorised. Still, election restrictions and refugee figures show the wider cost of denying equal rights. Any safe, voluntary and lasting return must address citizenship, self-identification, security and meaningful political participation. No community should have to abandon its identity to claim its rights.
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