II. Post-Coup Human Rights Violations Related to National Verification Cards in Myanmar 54 Another Rohingya in Rakhine State told Fortify Rights: “We don’t want to make ourselves ‘Bengali’ by accepting the NVC . . . How could we agree to lose our original identity knowingly?”207 Despite the coup and ongoing genocide against Rohingya, a small number of displaced Rohingya have informally returned to Myanmar’s Rakhine State since the coup.208 Fortify Rights obtained a filled-in “Form for Reception” issued by the junta-run Ministry of Social Welfare Relief and Resettlement—a verification form for Rohingya refugees returning from Bangladesh—which includes a section for “race” and “religion.” In this completed form for Rohingya refugees returning to Myanmar, the applicant’s “race” is listed as “Bengali.”209 “Project Flowerbed”: Nationwide Citizenship Verification In and beyond Rakhine State, the junta has attempted to initiate a nationwide citizenship verification campaign called Pan Khin, or Project Flowerbed in English. On May 7, 2021, Myint Kyaing, who heads the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, and Population for the military junta, announced that Project Flowerbed would provide identity cards to all recognized “ethnic nationals” who lack identity documentation.210 The junta reportedly initiated the project to address “terrible fraud in the voter list,” which the military claimed to be the reason the NLD won a landslide victory in the 2020 elections.211 207 Fortify Rights interview with A.G., Rakhine State, Myanmar, September 24, 2021. 208 Despite the pervasive persecution of Rohingya in Myanmar, a strong desire among displaced Rohingya to return to their homeland in Myanmar remains. For example, a 2018 survey conducted by a team of Rohingya refugee researchers with support by Fortify Rights found that a majority (94.7 percent) of Rohingya surveyed in Bangladesh reported a desire to return to Myanmar, identifying a number pre-conditions that must be in place before returns would be possible, including: “citizenship” (92.5 percent), “compensation for loss” (85.9 percent), “protection (e.g., U.N. Security Force)” (75.4 percent), “freedoms (travel, attend school, etc.).” Fortify Rights, “The Torture in My Mind”: The Right to Mental Health for Rohingya Survivors of Genocide in Myanmar and Bangladesh, December 10, 2020, https:// www.fortifyrights.org/downloads/The%20Torture%20in%20My%20Mind%20-%20Fortify%20Rights%20-%20 December-10-2020.pdf. In May 2021, the junta-run media The Global New Light of Myanmar reported the return of 790 displaced Rohingya. “Repatriation Process of Displaced Persons from Rakhine State to Bangladesh Is Underway,” The Global New Light of Myanmar, May 23, 2021, https://www.gnlm.com.mm/repatriation-process-of-displacedpersons-from-rakhine-state-to-bangladesh-is-underway/. 209 State Administrative Council, Ministry of Social Welfare Relief and Resettlement “Form for Reception,” on file with Fortify Rights, May 8, 2021. Refugees in Cox’s Bazar also said the conditions are not right to return to Myanmar. For example a Rohingya man told Fortify Rights in April 2022: We will not go back to Burma [Myanmar] if we have to acknowledge ourselves as Bengali and receive a NVC. The conditions that Master Mohib Ullah [the late Mohib Ullah was assassinated in September 2021] has proposed in the country and abroad, if we can go with our rights according to those conditions he has proposed, we will go. Rights mean our house, our land, security of our lives and property, and living a life like the other citizens of that country. Fortify Rights interview with B.E., Cox’s Bazar District, Bangladesh, April 14, 2022. 210 The campaign is expected to issue cards to approximately four million people across the country. “Myanmar Nationals Can Grab the Rights of Citizens: Pankhin Project,” The Global New Light of Myanmar, May 8, 2021, https://www.gnlm.com. mm/myanmar-nationals-can-grab-the-rights-of-citizens-pankhin-project/. “Consider How to Develop the Country,” The Global New Light of Myanmar, August 24, 2021, https://cdn.myanmarseo.com/file/client-cdn/2021/08/24_August_21_ gnlm.pdf. Fortify Rights research focuses on the Pan Khin in Rakhine State although junta-run media indicates that the project is ongoing in Yangon Region likely to try to track dissidents. The Global New Light of Myanmar states: Issuance of citizenship scrutiny cards must be done to the people residing in Yangon Region to have smooth travelling . . . Yangon Region Chief Minister U Hla Soe reported on happening of terror attacks in the Region . . . Region ministers and officials also reported on rule of law, security measures and declining of violent attacks, crime reduction, and implementation of Pan Khinn project to issue CSCs to the people. See, “Administrative Officials Need to Take Severe Action Under the Law Without Bias Against Those Who Harm Security Measures: Senior General,” The Global New Light of Myanmar, October 11, 2021, https://cdn.myanmarseo.com/ file/client-cdn/2021/10/11-10-20211.pdf. 211 “Entire People, All Administrative Bodies Need to Join,” The Global New Light of Myanmar, December 21, 2021, https:// cdn.myanmarseo.com/file/client-cdn/2021/12/14_Dec_21_gnlm-1.pdf. Furthermore, an aid worker with knowledge of the project told Fortify Rights, “The Phan Khin project is a mobile exercise conducted by Ministry of Immigration and Population to facilitate the issuance of documents–birth certificates, household lists, and citizenship cards.” Fortify Rights communication with B.C., April 6, 2022.