The regime Ministry of Labour has warned 28 foreign employment agencies to pay the outstanding tax for the previous year by May 31 or risk being blacklisted, according to an industry insider. 

“We have to pay the tax on time, so it would be helpful if the ministry could speed up the labour screening process,” an overseas employment agent told DVB on the condition of anonymity. Sources told DVB that the agencies must pay five percent of the service fee from each worker as a tax.

Over 600 agencies have obtained licences for overseas employment but only 485 of them sent 131,501 workers abroad last year, according to the ministry’s figures released in early May. 

Agency owners told DVB that delays in processing workers following the March 28 earthquake have caused an unknown number of employees to lose their jobs after failing to return to their positions on time.

Foreign workers must apply for the Overseas Worker Identification Cards (OWIC) from the ministry under the 1999 Foreign Employment Law. An OWIC has a five-year term to travel for overseas employment. The Ministry of Labour keeps detailed information about the OWIC holder.

But the screening process for OWIC has been delayed as the Ministry of Labour office in Naypyidaw was damaged by the earthquake. Naypyidaw is located 172 miles (277 km) south of the earthquake epicenter in Sagaing Region.

A foreign worker who returned to Myanmar from Singapore to renew his OWIC told DVB that he lost his job after being unable to return to work on time due to delays in the re-issuance process.

The regime Department of Labour under the ministry announced in early April that it could process labour screening only once a week. It added that over 3,200 workers were screened and granted OWIC in March. 

The issuance of OWIC was resumed on March 20 after a month-long pause. The devastating earthquake struck central Myanmar eight days later. It killed 4,477 and injured 11,366, according to DVB data.