Abstract

• Immigration is the act of entering a country other than one’s native country with the intention of living there permanently. Integration of immigrants has become a permanent issue on the political agenda of the host countries. States exercise their sovereign powers not only to determine who will be admitted and for how long but also to regulate laws and regulations for noncitizens who are admitted as immigrants and who are entitled to their citizenship. Myanmar is situated in common borders with China, Laos, Thailand, Bangladesh and India. Due to the closeness of respective borders, Myanmar has been confronting issues such as boundary and immigration issues inevitably since independence in 1948. This paper aims to analyze how to confer naturalized citizenship to an immigrant in Myanmar and under what circumstances naturalized citizenship can be removed. This paper carries out a legal analysis based on International Conventions relating to immigrants and domestic laws dealing with immigrants. The results from this study indicate that the Myanmar Citizenship Law, 1982 provides three types of citizenship: citizens, associate citizens, and naturalized citizens. Naturalized citizenship can only be acquired by application via one of five criteria. Regarding immigrants in Myanmar, especially the third generation of Bengalis who arrived before 1948 can be granted Myanmar citizenship. The granting of citizenship depends on the existing laws of the States and such existing laws may be changed when the government or the policy of the government changes. States enact their immigration laws based on their national interests. Finally, the study recommends that the civic knowledge requirement and the citizenship test should be added to the Myanmar Citizenship Law 1982.