State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has promised to tackle discrimination in issuing national IDs and passports to people with Hindu and Muslim faiths at the earliest opportunity.

“I shall tackle the issue of discrimination to people with Hindu and Muslim faiths in issuing national IDs. I will handle this issue with Immigration Minister when I get back to Nay Pyi Taw, she said,

She promised this in replying to a question asked by a local resident in a meeting with people in Bago, Bago Region on March 15.

“Equal treatment of people living in our country is our dignity,” she said at the meeting.

At this meeting, a local resident lodged a complaint with the State Counsellor that the people who followed Hindu and Muslim faiths were being discriminated against when applying for national IDs and they had to pay bribes to the officials to get these documents.

Suu Kyi also said that a provision in 2008 Constitution clearly stipulated that ‘the Union shall not discriminate against any citizen based on race, birth or religion’.

The State Counsellor has been touring the States and Regions since last month and she met with local people and local governments there.