Myanmar junta authorities prevent young adults from leaving the country by air

Myanmar authorities under the ruling junta are now preventing young adults who want to get jobs abroad from leaving the country via Yangon’s international airport, people with knowledge of the situation said.

Young people have been leaving Myanmar in droves to work in other countries since the military seized control in a February 2021 coup d’état followed by violent crackdowns on civilians and civil war.

The new measure is one of various methods used by the ruling military council to control the number of citizens leaving for employment opportunities abroad because of the civil war, economic downturn and military conscription.

Men ages 18 to 35 years and women ages 18 to 27 must serve a minimum of two years in the military under Myanmar’s conscription law.  

In May, the junta temporarily banned all men from working abroad amid widespread public concern over the implementation of the military conscription law.

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Authorities are denying people between the ages of 23 and 35 from taking flights out of Yangon, the country’s largest city, since the beginning of August, said a city resident.

They have implemented tighter passenger scrutiny and are turning away young adults regardless of the type of passport they hold, citing incomplete documentation, said the person, who like other sources in this report asked not to be named for fear of retribution.

Myanmar issues nine types of passports, including one for overseas workers, known as PJ, one for tourists, known as PV, and one for sailors, known as PS.

But there is no specific policy detailing which types of people are restricted from traveling, the Yangon resident said. 

“Even those with all the required documents and a PJ passport people have been barred from leaving the country,” the person said. 

Neither junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun or Nyunt Win, permanent secretary of the Labor Ministry, responded to requests for comment on the travel restrictions.

Illegal ways to go abroad

RFA has not been able to determine how many people have been affected by the measure so far.

A labor union leader criticized the new restrictions, saying they would push young people to find illegal ways to go abroad.

“Due to the pressure on people to leave because they can’t find work in this country, it is the foreign employment agencies that are most affected,” he said. “As a result, illegal agencies are beginning to emerge, and brokers are becoming more active.” 

Authorities previously didn’t check whether passports matched corresponding visas, but now if there’s a mismatch, the person is not allowed to leave the country, said an employee at an overseas job search service in Myanmar.

“Some travelers were sent back because they were using PV passports with a work visa, even though the passport type appeared to match the visa type,” the person said, adding that those with such visas cannot use them for other travel purposes. 

“In other words, if you hold a tourist passport, you will no longer be allowed to go abroad for work, study or similar purposes,” the source said.

In June, the military council also revoked the right to change passport types. Additionally, PJ passport holders are now permitted to work overseas only if they possess an Overseas Worker Identification Card.

A young woman aspiring to work abroad said she believes the cash-strapped junta is restricting those with PV passports from leaving the country for jobs elsewhere because it doesn’t collect taxes from them.

“It would be more convenient if, after allowing people to go, the authorities required 25% of their salary to be transferred back at a set amount, deducting the government’s share,” she said. “This system could then be applied to PV passport holders in the same way.”  

A young sailor told RFA that he and others who must renew their passports have to wait longer than previously to get a new travel document.

Passports must be valid for at least 18 months before sailors set off and leave Myanmar, but unforeseen delays in waiting for a QR code after submitting a renewal application are preventing them from working, he said.

“I have about six months left on mine, but I can’t work on a ship with only six months remaining,” he added.

Translated by Kalyar Lwin for RFA Burmese. Edited by Roseanne Gerin and Matt Reed.w