Maungdaw, Arakan State: The Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has ordered all village authorities of its towns of Maungdaw and Buthidaung, to apply for colour-coded Citizens Scrutiny Cards (CRCs) before December 30, said a village authority member from Maungdaw.

The order by TPDC chairmen to all village authorities of its town came with posters in every junction, public places and markets on December 20, the member said.

“Those who are 18 and above, must apply for their   colour-coded Citizens Scrutiny Cards (CRCs) before December 30 from nearest township immigration office, if he/she has lost the card or still not applied,” the ordered stated.

The applicant must pay Kyat 3000 as fee and service charge, the order said.

“It is only for Arakanese Rakhine community and other ethnic group, not for Arakanese Rohingya community. The authorities issued  us only Temporary Registration Card (TRC), a white card, which did not specify nationality while they are going to issue to Arakanese Rohingya the TRC or  at the 2010 election campaign of the National Unity Party (NUP), a political party which is backed by the ruling junta,” said a Arakanese Rohingya student from Maungdaw.

The authorities are going to organize the people from Maungdaw and Buthidaung, mostly the Arakanese Rohingya community, by issuing the TRC which normally is hard to get for this community and a lot of money has to be paid to the authority, the student said.

In 1989, colour-coded Citizens Scrutiny Cards (CRCs) were introduced: pink cards for full citizens, blue for associate citizens and green for naturalized citizens. The Arakanese Rohingyas were not issued any cards. In 1995, the Burmese authorities started issuing them with a Temporary Registration Card (TRC), a white card, which did not specify nationality, pursuant to the 1949 Residents of Burma Registration Act. The TRC does not mention the bearer’s place of birth and cannot be used to claim citizenship. The family list, which every family residing in Burma possesses, only records family members and their date of birth. It does not indicate the place of birth and therefore provides no official evidence of birth in Burma – and so perpetuates their statelessness, according to a report of Chris Lewa from Arakan Project, “North Arakan: an open prison for the Rohingya in Burma.”

According to Aung Htoo of the Burma Lawyers’ Council, “everyone can get an identity card.”  Most of the people registering are being given what are known as “white cards” for their colour, temporary identity certificates allowing non-citizens to travel through the country.  The temporary cards are good for five years and the government has promised that they will be exchanged for permanent citizenship cards after the 2010 general elections.