Irrawaddy-Aug 8
The regime has toughened checks on young people attempting to leave Myanmar by flight to prevent them from evading mandatory conscription, blocking scores of job seekers and tourists from boarding their flights. Since August 1, scores of young travelers with either passports for jobs or for visits have been turned back by immigration officials at Yangon International Airport, with officials citing a lack of documents for their refusal to let them fly to another country. (Myanmar issues two types of passports: one for citizens leaving for jobs, PJ, and the other for visits, PV). Many of those who were refused to board their pre-booked flights were between 23 and 32 years of age who had returned to Myanmar on their PJ passports but wanted to go back to their jobs in foreign countries. Immigration officials are denying exit to those who cannot present overseas worker identity cards, tax receipts and proof that they had remitted 25 percent of their foreign currency income back to Myanmar through the country’s banking system. A member of an overseas employment agency said: “The regime apparently thinks that young people planning to leave the country after returning from abroad want to dodge conscription.” Workers looking for overseas jobs through licensed employment agencies are also affected by the tighter restrictions, he added. More than 40 documented employees leaving for jobs in Japan, Singapore and the Middle East were turned back at Yangon Airport on August 1. They lost the money they spent on their flight tickets. Five overseas employment agencies serving them said they would have to negotiate with the junta’s Labor Ministry for permission to let the workers leave. The owner of one overseas job agency said the workers were prevented from boarding their flights because the junta suspected they were trying to evade conscription. Read more at: https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/myanmars-junta-has-tightened-its-conscription-noose-at-airports.html
