The Permanent Secretary of the Social Welfare Department said the government would try to resettle Kaman internally displaced people IDPs in Rakhine State to return to their places of origin. U Soe Aung said only if it was not possible they would be resettled in the places convenient for all. His comment attracted criticism from the groups representing Kaman people. “We are coordinating with the Rakhine State government to find out if it was possible to resettle them at their places of origin. We will need to find out if it would be convenient for them to settle at the original places. It will take time to do that assessment. Our priority is to resettle the IDPs at their places of origin. If they cannot live in those places, then we will have to look for other place that is convenient for everyone, U Soe Aung said. “We are considering the places where there is electricity, water supply and also good transportation. We are doing that arrangement and working for resettlement as a priority, U Soe Aung said. However, U Tin Hlaing Win the General Secretary of the Kaman Progressive Party said Kaman IDPs would only agree to return to their places of origin. He said the places where Kaman people lived before were given to them by Rakhine Kings. So these places are historically significant for Kaman people. If they were moved to other place, their historical connection would be lost. “U Thein Sein government offered a different place for our IDPs but we refused. We have no desire to live in other places. We told them that due to our proud history we do not wish to live in other places. During 2012 riot in Rakhine State against Rohingya the houses belong to Kaman, people were destroyed by Rakhine mobs. Reference: News Watch weekly 6 May.