The Myanmar junta’s Labor Ministry recently began enforcing its remittance rule, which was issued last September, to force expatriate workers in Thailand to remit their foreign currency income back home.
The ministry said Myanmar migrant laborers working under a government-to-government Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Thailand must have remitted at least 25 percent of their foreign currency income back home through the country’s banking system over the past three months if they want to renew their work permits after completing the original four-year contract.
It said it would not renew their work permits, allowing them to work for two more years in Thailand under a system known as “MoU U-turn”, unless they transferred 6,000 baht—25 percent of their basic salary for three months—to banks in Myanmar.
As of Aug. 1, those applying for a renewal of their work permit at either of two junta offices in the border towns of Myawaddy in Karen State and Kawthaung in Tanintharyi Region must present a document proving they have transferred the money to either their bank account or a relative’s bank account in Myanmar, the ministry said.
An official of the Myanmar Overseas Employment Agencies Federation (MOEAF) said: “The ministry would not renew their work permits if they can’t prove that they have remitted 25 percent of their income. In such cases [where they cannot show proof], migrant workers can’t work for another two years. The order was issued on July 30 and [took] effect on Aug. 1.”
The Irrawaddy was unable to obtain a comment from the Myanmar Embassy in Thailand.
One MoU worker whose original four-year contract is expiring said: “We have only used hundi [an informal money transfer mechanism widely used by Myanmar migrant workers]. So, we will have to open a bank account. It is a hassle.”
MoU workers have to renew their passports first in order to apply for a renewal of their work permit. If they can’t renew their passport, they will have to return to Myanmar or become undocumented workers, said a member of an overseas employment agency.
He said: “The regime has been strictly regulating every business, but all its measures have failed. It says it has foreign currency reserves. But it does not. So, it is milking migrant workers. If the regime restricts MoU and legal workers, more people will choose to work illegally.”
The ministry has also ordered the MOEAF to comply with its instruction.
Of the approximately 4 million legal Myanmar migrant workers in Thailand, around 1.5 million are MoU workers, according to data from the Thai government.
