Burmese residency status to be rectified

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.