Marm Sart Khaing
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Dhaka: Arakanese and other ethnic people from Burma stated demonstrations against the BBC in a number of countries demanding an apology for a news article and map that feel inaccurately depicted Burma's ethnic groups.


Nearly 150 ethnic people, including Arakanese, held banners and placards that read, "BBC, Stop Instigating Conflicts in Burma," in front of the BBC Worldwide Americas office in New York on 9 December.

"We are here to protest against the BBC because of the map that wrongfully illustrated the ethnic regions in Burma in its news article titled, 'Bleak outlook for Burma's ethnic groups,' written by its Asia-Pacific correspondent Anna Jones. We are different ethnic peoples of Burma coming to make the BBC hear our voices so that it can stand for the accuracy," said Ko Kyaw Htoo Aung, who led the demonstration.

"And we demand the BBC take action to Anna Jones who is the write responsible for her mistake and immediately issue an apology for its mistake to Arakanese and other ethnic people of Burma," he added.

A similar demonstration was also held on 16 November at the head office of the BBC in London by Burmese people living in the UK, demanding they solve the wrongful representations of ethnic regions on the map used in the article written by Anna Jones, and to apologize to the ethnic people in Burma.

Angry and dissatisfied with the BBC's article and map, over 100 Arakanese nationals also demonstrated against the BBC in front of the British embassy in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia on 24 November.

The map accompanying the article published on 6 November, 2010, "Bleak outlook for Burma's ethnic groups," illustrated the ethnic regions of Burma, and had the Rohingya flagged with a photo of a Muslim boy praying in the area of Arakan State, without any mention of ethnic Rakhine or Arakanese people. This oversight on the map is the root cause that spurred anger and dissatisfaction among the Burmese ethnic people against the BBC.

The BBC has made some changes to the illustrations on the map, adding ethnic Arakanese people to the area of of Arakan State, last October after receiving wide criticism and objections from Burmese people through its online media networks.

The recent demonstrators said the BBC still needs to make a formal apology to the ethnic people of Burma for its wrongful map and article.

The BBC provided the following comment on the issue through its facebook account:

Thank you for your comments. The map was not intended as an exhaustive look at every ethnic group in Burma. Rather it was intended to flag up minority peoples in Burma's border regions who are prominent because they are engaged in either disputes or conflict with the Burmese government. The line linking the Rohingya to Arakan state was not intended to imply ownership of the state or to marginalise the Rakhine people, but simply to show readers the state in which the Rohingya live. The text linked to the image of the Rohingya makes it clear that they are not granted Burmese citizenship. We have now adjusted the line on our map to give a clearer picture of where the Rohingya are to be found. We have also added a section featuring the Rakhine people. On the second page, we have amended our text to make a distinction between minority groups and recognised ethnic groups. Thank you for reading the BBC News website.