Arab News:
17 March 2013
Government offices in
Makkah will embark on rectifying the status of a quarter of a million Burmese
nationals residing across the Kingdom.
Burmese who are
detained in prisons, correctional institutions and those who were forced to
leave the country have been given the opportunity to rectify their status, a
local newspaper reported.
Sources said that the
state would pay their residency fees for the next four years. Another two years
would follow when this first period comes to an end.
The official statistics
indicate that 240,000 Burmese (and not 500,000 as previously stated) are
residing in the country.
Six government
agencies will begin the process of documentation and checking the nationalities
of all residents registered as Burmese due to confusion between their
nationality and that of the Bangladeshis.
These agencies are
the Makkah Governorate, the Police Department, the Passport Department, the
Labor Office, the Detective Department, the National Information Center, the
Ministry of Health and a team of senior Burmese citizens.
In a large tent in
Kadi district in Makkah, members of the Burmese community are welcome to
arrange their affairs between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the next four months.
The Burmese who come
to apply for residency will need to fill out forms. Their information will be
used to check the actual number of Burmese in the Kingdom. Burmese councils
will supervise this procedure, with the cooperation of the police and other relevant
bodies.
Juridical bodies will
take the necessary procedures against those who pretend to be Burmese after
making sure of their identity with the help of points of reference.
A special committee
including members of the Department of Health Affairs, Education Department,
and the Ministry of Social Affairs ended earlier a complete survey of the
social, economic, health and educational conditions of the Burmese community
members.