Shwe Maung | |
Native Name Lang: | Burmese |
Order: | Member of the Pyithu Hluttaw |
Constituency: | Buthidaung Township |
Term Start: | 31 January 2011 |
Term End: | 29 January 2016 |
Predecessor: | Position established |
Successor: | Aung Thaung Shwe |
Party: | Union Solidarity and Development Party (2009–15) Independent (2015–present) |
Birth Date: | 30 June 1965 |
Birth Place: | Buthidaung, Myanmar (Burma) |
Residence: | Pazundaung Township, Yangon, Myanmar |
Nationality: | Burmese |
Known For: | Rohingya Rights Activist |
Occupation: | Burmese Politician |
Spouse: | Tin Tin Win |
Children: | Shwe Yi Win Min Shwe Maung Htet Min Sithu Maung |
Parents: | Abdul Hardi (father) Aye Sein (mother) |
Shwe Maung (Burmese: ရွှေမောင်, also spelt Shwe Mg, aka Abdul Razak; born 30 June 1965) is a Rohingya rights activist in Myanmar and politician who served as a member of parliament in the House of Representatives for Buthidaung constituency from 2011 to 2016.[1] [2]
Shwe Maung was born in Buthidaung, Rakhine State to Rohingya Muslim parents, Abdul Hadi and Aye Sein. Although his parents are Myanmar citizens, the Union Election Commission of Myanmar ruled that they were not in order to bar U Shwe Maung from the 2015 General Election.[3]
U Shwe Maung is a former member of the Union Solidarity and Development Party. He served political development since 2010, Rohingya rights and prospects for reconciliation in Rakhine State.[4] [5]
In the 2010 Myanmar general election, he contested the Buthidaung Township constituency and won a House of Representatives seat, the country's lower house. He is a one of Rohingya member in the Myanmar's parliament.[6]
During his time in parliament, he was a member of the Reform and Modernization Assessment Committee. He was an outspoken inside and outside of parliament about human rights and full citizenship for Rohingya people. He was purposely deemed ineligible for his voice for Rohingya, to run for re-election due to supposed issues of citizenship, Myanmar's parliament barred from contesting 2015 Myanmar general election.[7] [8]
Shwe Maung currently serves as a board member of the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) and founding member of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief (IPPFoRB), also serving President of Arakan Institute for Peace and Human Rights (AiPAH, formerly AiPAD).[9] [10]
On 8 September 2017, police captain of Buthidaung Police Station opened a case against Shwe Maung under the Counter-Terrorism Law for allegedly supporting the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) and defending them via his Facebook page. In fact, U Shwe Maung never supports ARSA. He just requested State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar Military Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing via his Facebook Page to protect innocent Rohingya people from his constituency from being killed by Myanmar Security Forces.[11] The case against U Shwe Maung is a retaliation by Myanmar Military for his voice for Rohingya and truth telling.