Burma’s Minister for Labour, Immigration and Population Thein Swe has denied an assertion made by one of his cabinet colleagues last week of plans to relax travel restrictions for holders of National Verification Cards, the vast majority of whom would be Rohingya Muslims.

President Htin Kyaw has accepted the resignations of four ministers in the cabinets of the Bago and Magwe governments, bringing to at least seven the number of ministers from state and regional administrations to depart their posts so far this year.

Changes to government leadership are afoot in some parts of Burma as multiple ministers appointed by the National League for Democracy at the state- and region-level have tendered their resignations in recent days.

Hong Kong is making plans to ramp up its recruitment of domestic workers from Burma as the Special Administrative Region prepares for a potential shortage of labourers from other Southeast Asian countries.

Magwe regional government has confirmed the return of 3.25 billion kyat (US$2.5 million) in tax revenue which went missing under the USDP's tenure.

Minister confirms that a backhoe, an Isuzu truck and three minibuses had been returned, and some speedboats had been handed over to the Inland Water Transportation Department.