Become 'Bengali' or we'll detain you: Myanmar's draft plan for Rohingya

Myanmar's national government has drafted a plan that will give about a million members of the persecuted Rohingya Muslim ethnic minority a bleak choice: accept ethnic "reclassification" and the prospect of citizenship, or be detained.

Most of Myanmar's 1.1 million Rohingya already live in apartheid-like conditions in western Rakhine state, where deadly clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists in 2012 displaced 140,000 people, mostly Rohingya.

The plan, shared by sources with copies of the draft, proposes Rakhine authorities "construct temporary camps in required numbers for those who refuse to be registered and those without adequate documents".

Many Rohingya lost documents in the widespread violence, or have previously refused to register as "Bengalis", as required by the government under the new plan, because they say the term implies they are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

The plan says one of its aims is to promote peaceful coexistence and prevent sectarian tension and conflict.

It includes sections on resolving statelessness through a citizenship verification programme, as well as promoting economic development.