REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, YANGON - Rohingya activist Wai Wai Nu, who says her family has been in Myanmar for centuries, said census-takers at her Yangon home refused to list her as Rohingya, saying it was not permitted. When she demanded written proof, she was told it was a verbal order.

The 27-year-old activist said the vast majority of Rohingya's insisted on being recorded by their ethnicity.

"Our ethnic identity is very important to us for getting equal rights with other people in Myanmar," she said.

Rights organizations and ethnic groups in Myanmar have called for the census to be postponed until it can be carried out fairly and safely. The government had promised international sponsors that ethnic groups could choose their classification. But a day before the census kicked off, presidential spokesman Ye Htut indicated that use of the term Rohingya would be prohibited.

In Sittwe, the capital of Rakhine state, Buddhists protested against the use of the term Rohingya, saying it would give them legitimacy. The government describes the Rohingya as Bengalis, a term that implies they are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh. Many say they have lived in Rakhine for generations.

Repression during nearly 50 years of military rule kept ethnic tensions in check in one of Asia's most diverse countries. But these have burst into the open since 2011, when a quasi-civilian government took power. The country has endured several spasms of violence pitting Rakhine Buddhists against Rohingya. At least some of the attacks were blamed on Buddhist extremist groups.

Critics argue that Myanmar's government and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) knew the census would be problematic before it began, but ignored the concerns. Rights groups say the government is deliberately preventing the Rohingya's' from being counted.

"The writing was on the wall and everyone knew it," said Matthew Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, a rights group based in Southeast Asia.

"The government never had any intention of recognizing the Rohingya ethnicity through the census."

Trouble broke out last month when 400 rioters in Sittwe damaged offices, homes, warehouses, and vehicles belonging to aid groups and the UN. AInternational aid workers withdrew.

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