A high ranking military official of the Burmese ruling military junta has issued a variety of National Registration Cards (NRC) to those in the Kachin ceasefire groups in Kachin State, Northern Burma, over the last week, said sources in the group.

Col. Maung Maung Than, director general of Immigration and Population Ministry along with local immigration officers and volunteers issued three-fold Green, Pink and White NRCs to the people in the controlled areas of Kachin Independence Organization (KIO) and New Democratic Army-Kachin (NDA-K), their officials told KNG today.

A KIO immigration officer said during Col. Maung Maung Than's visit to Laiza the headquarters of KIO on the Sino-Burma border on March 19, 2008, the junta's immigration team issued a total of 93 Green and Pink NRCs, and 42 White NRCs to the residents. 

Men were issued the Green Cards with a triangle seal and women, Pink Cards with a triangle seal whereas the White Cards were issued to applicants whose application forms did not have photographs and were not present during Col. Maung Maung Than's visit in Laiza, the KIO immigration officer added.

They also issued 63 new Ing-htaung-su (family unit documents) to Laiza residents and enlisted 774 residents of Laiza in the voters' list for the referendum to approve the constitution in May, according to KIO immigration officers.

At the same time, the immigration team led by Col. Maung Maung Than visited Chibwe, Law Hkawng, Kambaiti and Pang Wa in NDA-K controlled areas and issued Green, Pink and White coloured NRCs to civilians and NDA-K servicemen, a NDA-K officer told KNG.

The team issued the same cards with different seals among civilians and men and women in NDA-K service.  The cards for civilians were marked with a triangle seal whereas the cards for servicemen were marked with a circular seal, the NDA-K officer added.

In NDA-K controlled areas along the Sino-Burma border, hundreds of civilians, men and women in NDA-K applied for the NRCs for local travel purposes rather than for participating in the referendum in May and elections in 2010, the NDA-K officer said.

The three-fold NRCs are now being issued to the people in both the junta and Kachin ceasefire groups' controlled areas in Kachin State. It had also been issued during the rule of General Ne Win's Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) in the county in 1962 to 1988.