Bangladesh begins census of Myanmar's Rohingya refugees

Bangladesh has started to conduct a census on Myanmar's Rohingya refugees living in the country's southeastern districts bordering Myanmar to determine their exact figure.

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) has began the listing of households as part of primary task in six southeastern districts - Chittagong, Cox's Bazar, Rangamati, Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Patuakhali, Xinhua reported.

The listing of Rohingya households will continue till February 17, according to Md Emdadul Huq, joint director of Chittagong Divisional Office of BBS. After completion of listing of households, the census will begin by the end of the next month.

Officials said the census aimed at ending confusion about the exact number of Rohingya people living in Bangladesh.

Currently there were various figures coming out from various ways on the number of Rohingya people in Bangladesh, which is considered a barrier to resolving the problem.

Some 30,000 registered refugees are reportedly staying at two camps in Bangladesh, in addition to 300,000 to 500,000 more illegal Rohingya immigrants in the country.

The government of Myanmar has pledged to take back these its undocumented nationals after verification of their origin, a Bangladeshi foreign ministry statement had earlier said.