Employment agencies reluctant to secure jobs for conscripts
During a “recent meeting” in the capital Naypyidaw, the regime’s Ministry of Labour directed the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agency Association (MOEAA) to facilitate potential job placements in Japan, Thailand, and Malaysia for conscripts who have completed their two-years of mandatory military service–a move denounced as a desperate incentive to lure more 18-35 year-old males to want to conscript.
While the regime’s instruction is currently framed as an “encouragement” rather than a directive, agency operators are quietly resisting. A source from an overseas employment agency told DVB on the condition of anonymity that they are highly reluctant to cooperate, fearing that assisting the regime could destroy their credibility and expose them to public backlash or retaliatory attacks from resistance forces.
A labor group told DVB that the regime is now attempting to promise a streamlined path to work abroad—a process it has otherwise heavily restricted with mandatory taxes and forced remittances through state banks—in hopes to incentivize compliance with the conscription law, which was enforced on Feb. 10, 2024. To date, an estimated 110,000 males have been conscripted in 24 intakes since April 8, 2024. Read more
Myanmar migrant workers laid off in Thailand
Migrant workers from Burma in Thailand told DVB that thousands have been laid off from factories and workshops in Prachinburi and Chonburi provinces, located 84-50 miles (135-81 km) east and southeast of the Thai capital Bangkok, since March without prior notice due to rising oil prices and increasing production costs.
“Many of those laid off are in difficult situations. We are helping each other,” a migrant worker told DVB. The Worker Assistance Group for Myanmar, which assists migrant workers from Burma in Thailand, told DVB that the layoffs coincided with a document renewal period. This is when Thai employers issue documents to extend their workers’ stay in the country. This has left many at risk of being unable to remain.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) states that 2,308,166 Burma nationals were registered as migrant workers in Thailand in March 2024. The number of undocumented migrant workers in Thailand remains unknown but is estimated to be over double the official number, according to IOM.
Aid pledges have yet to improve life in Thai refugee camps
Aid workers assisting Myanmar refugees at Umpiem Mai camp in Thailand’s Tak Province and another camp in Mae Hong Son Province told DVB that there has been no significant improvement in healthcare services despite aid pledges from the E.U. for 15 million euros ($17 million USD) and Japan for 453 million yen ($2.95 million USD) in recent weeks.
“There are new donors which have already been confirmed, but we haven’t seen any noticeable changes yet,” a health worker at Umpiem Mai camp, located roughly 47 miles (87 km) south of the Thai-Burma border town of Mae Sot, told DVB on the condition of anonymity. An estimated 107,000 refugees live in nine camps along the Thai–Burma border.
The E.U. funds will strengthen healthcare, child protection, and livelihood opportunities for all refugees from Burma in Thailand. Japan pledged health assistance to 60,000 refugees living in Umpiem Mai, Mae La and Nu Po camps, which are located across the border from Karen State’s Myawaddy Township. Read more
News by Region
NAYPYIDAW—The regime’s Ministry of Labor announced that starting May 1 all migrant workers on leave must obtain a letter from their employer and the embassy of the host country before departing. The directive warns that those who fail to comply will be blacklisted and not allowed to leave the country.
The regime stated that the new measure is to “ensure safe migration and prevent human trafficking,” adding that if a migrant worker’s visa or work permit contains conflicting information with what’s on their Overseas Worker Identification Card (OWIC), then they must reapply at the labour ministry.
KAREN—Migrants from Burma living in Thailand’s Mae Sot District in Tak Province confirmed DVB on Wednesday that the Thai-Myanmar Friendship Bridge 2, which connects Myawaddy to Mae Sot, remained closed despite reports from sources stating that it had reopened on April 28.
The border bridge was closed to trade on Aug. 18 during a regime crackdown on “illegal trade” from Thailand. Traders and bus drivers in Myawaddy told DVB that there are at least 10 police checkpoints searching for illegal Thai goods along the Asia Highway from Myawaddy to Yangon. Read more
KARENNI—The Interim Executive Council (IEC), a provisional government formed by resistance groups in 2023, told DVB that it’s investigating a shootout that killed one civilian and seven People’s Defence Force (PDF) members in Moebye town, located in Shan State’s Pekon Township, on Friday.
Banyar Aung, the IEC secretary 2, told DVB that talks have been held between the Moebye PDF and “Alpha Zone 1,” which is under IEC command, without disclosing further details. Sources told DVB that the shootout occurred due to territorial disputes between the two armed groups.
AYEYARWADY—Residents of Myaungmya Township told DVB that 26 homes and two warehouses were destroyed by fire on Tuesday–one day after nearly 300 market stalls burned down in Danubyu Township. Myaungmya and Danubyu are located 35-85 miles (56-137 km) east of the region’s capital Pathein.
The regime’s regional authorities are investigating the cause of the fires in Myaungmya and Danubyu. No casualties were reported by residents in either town. On April 4, an unknown number of homes were destroyed by fire in Myaungmya, residents told DVB.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 4,230 MMK)
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