Quote:The measure was enacted a week ago after the commission recommended family planning programs to stem population growth among Muslims, Win Myaing said. The commission also recommended doubling the number of security forces in the volatile region.
"The population growth of Rohingya Muslims is 10 times higher than that of the Rakhine (Buddhists)," Win Myaing said. "Overpopulation is one of the causes of tension."
Sectarian violence in Myanmar first flared nearly a year ago in Rakhine state between the region's Rakhine Buddhists and Muslim Rohingya. Mobs of Buddhists armed with machetes razed thousands of Muslim homes, leaving hundreds of people dead and forcing 125,000 to flee, mostly Muslims.
Witnesses and human rights groups say riot police stood by as crowds attacked Muslims and burned their villages.
New York-based Human Rights Watch has accused authorities in Rakhine of fomenting an organized campaign of "ethnic cleansing" against the Rohingya.
http://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/2-ch...r-1.222732