Myanmar said on Saturday that it had verified 426,545 of the 828,824 refugees on a list provided by Bangladesh as of the end of July. It determined that 308,797 of those verified were former residents of Rakhine.

The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it could not verify 113,507 people, while 4,241 were found to have been involved in what it called ‘terrorist activities.’

The statement said Myanmar would continue working with Bangladesh to receive verified former residents when the security situation in Rakhine becomes more stable.

The country also rejected claims that more than 1 million people were displaced from Rakhine, saying that more than 540,000 people crossed into Bangladesh following the violence in 2017, while more than 200,000 remained in northern Rakhine.

Asked about Myanmar’s claim that 4,241 verified people living in Bangladesh’s refugee camps were involved in terrorist activities, refugee relief and repatriation commissioner Mizanur Rahman said it was not a concern for Bangladesh.

‘Terrorist or not, they are residents of Myanmar, and the country must take them back. If there are any allegations against them, Myanmar can hold their trials after taking them back,’ he said.

The RRRC said Bangladesh had provided Myanmar with the list in 2018, and Myanmar verified the people by placing them into three categories – registered residents, non-registered residents, and ‘terrorists.’

‘Those who have been listed as terrorists might have legal proceedings pending against them in Myanmar. This is not our issue,’ he said.