Dhaka: This week, a team from Myanmar is verifying the status of Rohingya refugees living in Bangladeshi camps. According to authorities, 400 of them will be permitted to participate in a pilot repatriation project.

1.2 million Muslim Rohingyas are being housed in Bangladesh and are receiving humanitarian aid, the majority of whom fled the violence and persecution in neighbouring Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017.

The majority of the refugees reside in filthy camps in Cox's Bazar district, a coastal area in the southeast of the country, which has now become the largest refugee settlement in the entire world as a result of the influx of Rohingya.

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The UN has been working on their repatriation to Myanmar for years, but the process has not begun yet.

China acted as a mediator between the delegation of Myanmar immigration officials' arrival and the launch of the pilot project. Out of the more than 1,100 people listed as a potential first batch of returnees, more than 400 are currently undergoing verification. The remaining documents have already been remotely cleared by Myanmar authorities.

"The team of Myanmar officials started verification of more than 400 Rohingyas at Cox's Bazar refugee camps on Wednesday," Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman told Arab News after the first day of verifying potential returnees.

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"As of Wednesday, the members of the Myanmar team began speaking with each individual. The next five to six days will be spent working here by the Myanmar team.

China acted as a mediator between the delegation of Myanmar immigration officials' arrival and the launch of the pilot project. Out of the more than 1,100 people listed as a potential first batch of returnees, more than 400 are currently undergoing verification. The remaining documents have already been remotely cleared by Myanmar authorities.

"The team of Myanmar officials started verification of more than 400 Rohingyas at Cox's Bazar refugee camps on Wednesday," Bangladesh's Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner Mizanur Rahman told Arab News after the first day of verifying potential returnees.

"As of Wednesday, the members of the Myanmar team began speaking with each individual. The next five to six days will be spent working here by the Myanmar team.

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The UN World Food Program made the decision to reduce Rohingya food rations last month because its requests for donations went unanswered.

Hosting 1.2 million Rohingya has recently raised security concerns due to an increase in murder cases and reports of criminal groups using refugees as drug traffickers since last year.