Mizzima
Since the introduction of the Myanmar Conscription Law, the number of passport applications in Hakha Township, Chin State has greatly increased, leading to long delays in the issuing of passports.
Normally the application process would take several months. But because people want to leave the country following the introduction of the Conscription Law on 10 February 2024, there has been a massive surge in applications and people will have to wait six months or more for their passports. This means they will not receive their passports before the junta starts conscripting people after the Thingyan New Year celebrations in mid-April.
Previously, before this surge in passport applications, it was possible to expedite the application process and receive a passport within a week by paying brokers 150,000 kyats. Since the surge in applications, the price of expediting an application has soared to 3 million kyats, (about $835 at black market exchange rates or about $1,430 at official Myanmar exchange rates) a sum well out of the reach of most normal people in Myanmar.
A resident of Hakha said: “There’s an urgent need to send my friend’s child abroad. The brokers mentioned that to expedite passport issuance within a week, we would need to pay over 3 million Myanmar Kyats. When I inquired about the process, the brokers suggested they could modify the name within the QR code and deliver the passport in less than a week. Whether it’s legitimate or not is another matter. All we’re concerned about is obtaining the passport. People from Chin State and Sagaing Region are required to pay slightly more.”
Due to the ongoing unrest in Chin State, parents who can afford it are opting to send their children to major Myanmar cities for training and classes. Many richer parents have been trying to send their children abroad since the Conscription Law was announced.
According to a 22 February Bangkok Post report, the Thai Embassy in Yangon received over 7,000 visa applications in just two weeks.
