A group of local residents in Maungtaw has issued a statement saying that granting citizenship to the local Muslims was unlawful. The statement issued on 22 February said many Rohingya were issued with citizenship ID without they were assessed under the Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. The statement urged to stop issuing the IDs to Rohingyas. At least 21 Rohingya people were issued with citizenship identification cards while 14 other have received neutralised citizenship IDs. The statement called for inclusion of the local representatives in the verification committee on the citizenship under the Burma Citizenship Law of 1982. And it also called for withdrawal of the citizenship ID issued to Rohingyas. One local resident U Htun Aye Thein said, “We want to call the government to effectively implement this, we called for handling of this issue through lawful means”. Reference: RFA Burmese February 23