( CNN ) Myanmar has stripped away temporary voting rights given to the country 's embattled Rohingya minority only a day earlier , following protests by Buddhist nationalists . About 1.3 million Rohingya , a Muslim minority , live in Buddhist-majority Myanmar , where they are regarded as foreign interlopers from neighboring Bangladesh , and face widespread prejudice . Hundreds of thousands instead hold temporary identity papers known as white cards . On Tuesday , a bill was enacted with a clause that would give white card holders the right to vote in a proposed referendum on the country 's constitution . The move prompted protesters , including many Buddhist monks , to take to the streets of Yangon Wednesday , demanding that the law be revoked . `` You played the white card stupidly , '' read one protester 's banner . That evening , the office of President Thein Sein issued a statement saying that the white cards would expire at the end of March , canceling the holder 's newfound voting rights , the state-run New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported . READ MORE : 'Caught between a hammer and an anvil ' The statement said that white card holders would have two months from the expiry of their cards on March 31 to surrender them to authorities , who would then assess their citizenship status under the country 's citizenship laws . The president 's office also said it would establish an advisory commission to look into the question of white cards , which it noted had `` been an issue among the public . '' In December , the United Nations passed a resolution urging Myanmar to give access to citizenship for the Rohingya , many of whom are subject to extreme discrimination . Following waves of deadly communal violence in 2012 , more than 100,000 people in Myanmar 's impoverished Rakhine State are trapped in squalid internment camps which they are forbidden to leave of their own volition -- officially for their own protection . When the U.N. 's Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs , Kyung-wha Kang , visited Rakhine 's camps in June , she described witnessing `` a level of human suffering in IDP camps that I have personally never seen before . '' Buddhist nationalists have been accused of stoking much of the anti-Rohingya sentiment , with a prominent monk recently calling a U.N. official a `` whore '' for her comments in defense of the minority . READ MORE : Top U.N. official slams monk over 'whore ' comments . On the urging of the international community , Myanmar has outlined a pathway for delivering citizenship to the Rohingya . But critics say while it has the potential to provide some Rohingya citizenship , it is likely to define hundreds of thousands as illegal aliens , to be eventually deported . Myanmar is expected to hold a referendum on the country 's constitution ahead of the general election scheduled for October or November . Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi , whose National League for Democracy is favored to win at the polls , has been campaigning to change the constitution . In its present form it allocates a quarter of parliamentary seats to the military , which ruled the country for nearly half a century . READ MORE : Why is Aung San Suu Kyi silent on the Rohingya question ? READ MORE : Rohingya 'not welcome '
Myanmar gave members of the Rohingya minority the right to vote in future constitutional referendum . The move drew sharp protests from Buddhist nationalists , and was quickly revoked . Hide Caption