Myanmar’s junta government has identified more than 300,000 Rohingya currently sheltering in Bangladesh as former residents of Rakhine State and said they could be repatriated if the security situation there improves.

The announcement was made by Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Saturday (August 15), as the Rohingya crisis approaches its ninth anniversary.

In August 2017, following attacks on security forces in Rakhine, Myanmar’s military launched a brutal crackdown against the Rohingya. More than 700,000 Rohingya fled across the border to Bangladesh to escape the violence. Several hundred thousand Rohingya had already been living in Bangladesh before the 2017 exodus.

The Myanmar military’s campaign drew widespread international condemnation, with the United Nations and other international bodies accusing the military of genocide and ethnic cleansing.

Myanmar has never officially recognized the Rohingya as citizens of the country. Instead, the authorities refer to them as “Bengalis”, claiming that they are originally from Bangladesh and had been living illegally in Myanmar.

According to the Myanmar government’s statement, Bangladesh had provided a list of 828,824 Rohingya to Myanmar by the end of July. Myanmar said it had so far cross-checked the information of 426,545 people.

Based on that verification, Myanmar has confirmed 308,797 people as former residents of the country, according to the statement.