The Burmese community will receive the first official set of residence permits issued by the Kingdom beginning Saturday, according to sources.

A committee has been assigned to rectify the status of the Burmese community in the Kingdom and will deliver residence permits through the office of Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal.

Ayyub Al-Jamal, Burmese community coordinator general, said that the status of 540 Burmese was rectified last Sunday in anticipation of the delivery. He said less than 20 percent of the estimated 300,000 Burmese were unmarried. However, official statistics indicate that there are 240,000 Burmese citizens residing in Saudi Arabia.

The committee and the Ministry of Education will work together to enroll the sons of Burmese parents in Saudi schools. The residence permits come in the wake of a government decision to exempt them from paying residency fees for the next four years as an incentive for them to rectify their status.

Burmese communities in three key cities were surveyed as a first step for them to obtain residency permits. A special committee began receiving applications of the Burmese community last Saturday at a center set up at a car park in Kudai, Makkah.