A/HRC/39/CRP.2 480. Further security operations in Rakhine State in the early 1990s again caused approximately 250,000 persons to leave for Bangladesh, with widespread allegations of serious human rights violations. While the Myanmar government again made claims that the issue was one of illegal Bengali immigrants, 1066 a repatriation agreement was signed with Bangladesh and Rohingya were accepted back in Myanmar. Citizenship verification process 481. In 2011, the government introduced a “citizenship process” for members of the 135 recognised ethnic groups, with expedited applications.1067 The Rohingya were not eligible for this process but subjected to a separate “citizenship verification” process, which has been protracted, cumbersome and increasingly coercive. By 2017, it had been completed for only a very small number of Rohingya. 482. A pilot citizenship verification exercises took place in Taung Pyo IDP camp in Myebon Township in July 2014. Rohingya were required to identify as “Bengali” when registering.1068 Following protest from both Rohingya and ethnic Rakhine 1069, the programme was suspended, and then ended in December 2014, with less than one hundred Citizenship Scrutiny Cards issued by August 2015.1070 Those granted citizenship in this process were allowed to vote in the 2015 election but remain confined in camps without freedom of movement.1071 The citizenship verification process was extended across Rakhine State in January 2015 but was suspended shortly after.1072 483. On 11 February 2015, President Thein Sein announced that the white cards would expire on 31 March 2015 and ordered them to be returned by 31 May 2015. This order pushed Rohingya further into legal uncertainty. Holders were given a “white card receipt” in exchange for the surrendered white card. 1073 By the deadline, only around 67 per cent of cards had been surrendered of which 80 per cent in Rakhine State. 1074 484. Following the invalidation of the white cards, a new Identity Card for National Verification (ICNVs) was introduced with the stated aim to “scrutinize whether the applicant meets the eligibility to become a citizen of Myanmar”.1075 Rohingya applicants were required to indicate “Bengali” ethnicity on the application form, and the rights associated with the card were unclear, including the implication of the limited two-year validity.1076 A campaign to compel acceptance of the card was conducted. It was reportedly accompanied by threats,1077 with those retaining white card receipts in parts of northern Rakhine State facing 1066 1067 1068 1069 1070 1071 1072 1073 1074 1075 1076 1077 116 E/CN.4/1993/62, including the response letter from the Government to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief. The letter stated that the allegations were “fabricated by some big countries and certain foreign news agencies”, that “among those who fled were mostly poor people who were lured by stories that relief food and goods were being distributed on the other side” and that “some left because they were threatened by terrorist insurgents to burn down their houses”, that the issue was one of “illegal immigration” which had also been the cause of the “outflow of people of Bengali stock back in 1978”, and that the “Rohingya do not exist in Myanmar either historically, politically or legally”. These are essentially the same explanations as those given by the Myanmar Government to the massive flight of Rohingya in late 2017. V-054. Ibid. Advisory Commission on Rakhine State, Final Report, Towards a peaceful, fair and prosperous future for the people of Rakhine (August 2017). K-063.1. Of approximately 1,300 eligible adult applicants, around 1,200 had applied. By late August 2015, Citizenship Scrutiny Cards had been issued to 97 adults and Naturalised Citizenship Scrutiny Cards to 820 adults, 656 children. K-063.1 K-063.2. K-063.1. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid.