2-child limit on Muslim minority in Myanmar would be human rights violation

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says a decision by authorities in western Myanmar to restore a two-child limit on a Muslim minority group would be discriminatory and a violation of human rights of Muslims and the Rohingya community.

U.N. deputy spokesman Eduardo del Buey said Thursday that U.N. human rights bodies have called on the authorities in Rakhine state "to remove such policies or practices."

Authorities in the strife-torn state said this past weekend that they were restoring a measure imposed during past military rule that banned Rohingya Muslim families from having more than two children. The policy applies to two Rakhine townships that border Bangladesh and have the highest Muslim populations in the state.

The order is likely to bring further criticism that Muslims are being discriminated against in Buddhist-majority Myanmar.