Rohingya News Agency - AA

The Bangladeshi government has begun to survey how many undocumented Rohingya Muslims are living within its borders, with the eventual intention of ascertaining how many have left neighboring Myanmar.

Medecins Sans Frontieres -- which works in one of the largest refugee camps -- has claimed that there are 220,000 unregistered Rohingya in the country.

A senior officer at the International Organization of Migration -- which is assisting the government in the survey -- told Anadolu Agency by phone late Saturday that the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics launched the survey Friday in six districts -- Cox’s Bazaar, Chittagong, Rangamati, Khagracchari, Bandarban and Patuakhali.

"We are basically doing the campaign through local residents so that people’s participation increases," said Asif Munier, who works at the Cox’s Bazar camp.

"The survey will be done in two parts -- household and individual. The household count started on Friday, so, we can say that now the field work has been started."

He said it will continue until Feb. 17.

Rohingya have long been fleeing Myanmar’s western Rakhine state, where they claim they are persecuted by the country's Buddhist majority and suffer restrictions on travel and employment.

Myanmar’s government, however, has insisted that the group are not being persecuted.