Burmese authorities have started issuing six-year temporary passports to Burmese migrants living in Thailand, according to holders of the documents.
The passports are issued at special centers in the Burmese border towns of Tachilek, Kawthaung and Myawaddy, and are part of the National Verification process for Burmese citizens who wish to work in Thailand legally.
According to Kyaw Zaya, a temporary passport holder living in the Thai border town of Ranong, opposite Kawthaung, only three-year passports were available until this month. He added that anyone seeking a passport must now go through a broker.
The passports are also issued at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok, where brokers have set up tables to offer their services to Burmese nationals seeking to remain in Thailand.
The move comes as Thai authorities have raised visa extension fees for Burmese living in Thailand.
“Before we paid 500 baht ($16) for a two-year extension, but now we have to pay 1,900 baht (US $63),” said Kyaw Zaya, who added that extensions involve returning to the border and reentering Thailand.
Another problem, he said, is that with the old three-year passports, migrants lost half of their two-year extension because their passports were only valid for one more year after the initial work permit expired.
“Brokers are exploiting the increased cost to demand high sums of money for renewal from migrants,” said Andy Hall, a consultant to the Thailand-based Human Rights and Development Foundation.
Hall noted that it was highly unusual that the Burmese embassy allowed brokers to operate within the premises of the diplomatic mission. “There is a lot of exploitation and corruption in the National Verification process,” he said.
Since June 2009, around 500,000 Burmese migrants have registered to work in Thailand after passing the National Verification process. There are believed to be at least two million Burmese nationals working in Thailand, most of them illegally.
The passports are issued at special centers in the Burmese border towns of Tachilek, Kawthaung and Myawaddy, and are part of the National Verification process for Burmese citizens who wish to work in Thailand legally.
According to Kyaw Zaya, a temporary passport holder living in the Thai border town of Ranong, opposite Kawthaung, only three-year passports were available until this month. He added that anyone seeking a passport must now go through a broker.
The passports are also issued at the Burmese embassy in Bangkok, where brokers have set up tables to offer their services to Burmese nationals seeking to remain in Thailand.
The move comes as Thai authorities have raised visa extension fees for Burmese living in Thailand.
“Before we paid 500 baht ($16) for a two-year extension, but now we have to pay 1,900 baht (US $63),” said Kyaw Zaya, who added that extensions involve returning to the border and reentering Thailand.
Another problem, he said, is that with the old three-year passports, migrants lost half of their two-year extension because their passports were only valid for one more year after the initial work permit expired.
“Brokers are exploiting the increased cost to demand high sums of money for renewal from migrants,” said Andy Hall, a consultant to the Thailand-based Human Rights and Development Foundation.
Hall noted that it was highly unusual that the Burmese embassy allowed brokers to operate within the premises of the diplomatic mission. “There is a lot of exploitation and corruption in the National Verification process,” he said.
Since June 2009, around 500,000 Burmese migrants have registered to work in Thailand after passing the National Verification process. There are believed to be at least two million Burmese nationals working in Thailand, most of them illegally.
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