Veronika Martin and Kavita Shukla [of Refugees International] are in Asia for an assessment mission on Burmese refugees. "By June 30, 2003 the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is planning a dramatic change in its responsibilities towards the remaining 21,000 Rohingya refugees from Burma residing in two camps in Cox?s Bazaar district of Bangladesh. The proposed plan outlines an 18-month assistance program. The guiding principle of the program is self-sufficiency within local communities for refugees who do not opt for repatriation by the proposed July 1 deadline, when UNHCR plans to ?disengage? from its role in normal care for refugees, as well as from repatriations. The plan for this ?residual case load,? left over from the influx of 250,000 Rohingya in the early 90s, proposes providing skills training with the intention of enabling refugees to become economically and socially independent by the end of 2004..."