Burma's Suu Kyi Denounces 2-Child Limit on Muslims

Aung San Suu Kyi rights groups and Islamic leaders have expressed dismay over plans by authorities in western Burma to revive a two-child limit on Muslim Rohingya families, May 27, 2013.

Burma's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has condemned a policy by authorities in the country's west that revives a two-child limit on Muslim Rohingya families.

Aung San Suu Kyi said Monday the move was illegal "discrimination" that violated the Rohingyas' human rights.

Authorities in Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh, have reaffirmed a measure enforced in the 1990s that banned Rohingya families from having more than two children. The policy applies to two Rakhine townships in the state with Muslim majorities.

The Burmese government does not include its population of about 800,000 Rohingyas as one of its ethnic minorities. It considers them illegal immigrants and has denied them citizenship in the Buddhist-majority nation.

In the past, Aung San Suu Kyi has been criticized by rights groups for not speaking up for the Rohingya.