Myanmar’s military regime now requires residents of Rakhine State and Tanintharyi Region to obtain a letter of permission from local administrators before flying to Yangon, Mandalay and other cities in the country.
People cannot fly out of Tanintharyi and Rakhine unless they have received approval from the junta-controlled general administration departments in their neighborhoods, according to a notice recently issued by the junta’s Transport and Communications Ministry to airlines.
Residents of Rakhine State cannot fly to Yangon unless they have a certificate of permission from their district administrators and even then, they are only allowed to fly to Yangon for healthcare or education.
Civil servants in the western state have to seek permission from their respective department to take a Yangon-bound flight.
Those who do not receive approval from general administration departments will not be allowed to board flights, according to an internal memo from Myanmar Airways International dated Feb. 11. It cites a decision made the same day at a meeting of the Kyaukphyu District general administration department.
An employee at Star Wave, an air ticket agency, in Sittwe told The Irrawaddy: “Flights [to Yangon] have been fully booked until April, but whether you are traveling from Sittwe or Kyaukphyu, you need permission from district administrators.”
The regime imposed a blockade on Rakhine State after the Arakan Army launched an offensive against the regime’s military in mid-November last year.
Restrictions on air travel were imposed as the conscription law was activated on Feb. 10.
A Feb. 9 letter signed by Lieutenant Colonel Myo Min Khaing – a member of the administrative body of Myeik District in Tanintharyi Region – tells travel agents not to sell tickets for flights to Yangon, Mandalay and other cities unless the traveler has a permission letter from his or her respective ward or village administrators.
Travelers who buy tickets online will have to bring a permission letter to the airport, the letter adds.
“People need a permission letter to travel from Myeik to Yangon. But they don’t say if there is also a need for a permission letter to travel from Yangon to Myeik,” an employee of MAI said.
The owner of a business in Tanintharyi Region said it was a “hassle” to have to obtain a permission letter to fly out of the region, adding: “I have no idea why they did this.”
