When hundreds of Burmese were seen gathering last Friday outside a stadium in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur, it sparked speculation online that they were being given Malaysian citizenship.

However, this turned out to be a data-gathering exercise for unregistered asylum seekers by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

NONE In a press statement today, UNHCR spokesperson Yante Ismail clarified that the exercise was to assist in identifying refugees mainly from the Rohingya, Burmese Muslim and Burmese Tamil groups.

“For planning purposes, UNHCR needs to know (the identity of) the unregistered asylum seekers in the country and (such) data-gathering exercises help us to know this” she said.

Pro-Pakatan Rakyat blogger Milosuam had quoted a Facebook post that ‘10,000 Burmese were awarded citizenship’ on the morning of Nov 2.

The Facebook user claimed that they had to be Muslims and to recite a verse from the Quran before being awarded citizenship. However, the post has since been removed.

Milosuam also uploaded three photos from an unidentified reader, who claimed that many Burmese, Bangladeshi and Indian foreigners had gathered outside the stadium and questioned their motive.