Wera Mehm :Ye Township villagers report that while the township’s Immigration Department is pushing residents to make identification cards (IDs), Immigration authorities are responsible for a dramatic spike in ID prices.
According to a 40 year-old male Ye resident who recently made an ID, residents must pay 70 thousand kyat to the Immigration Department in Ye town if they want their new ID cards within two or three days, and 50 thousand if they are willing to wait about a week.
Ye residents explained that in July of this year, the Immigration Department office in Ye town encouraged residents without ID cards to have them made in advance of the 2010 elections, and led campaigns in individual villages and township quarters to induce community members to obtain the cards; many residents ignored or put off the task. The cost for making ID cards was about 6 thousand kyat at the time. The campaign has since ended, and Ye residents who now find themselves in need of ID cards are being forced to pay unexpectedly high prices for the documents.
Individuals who need the ID cards for immigration purposes have often already made travel plans in advance, and are forced into paying 70 thousand kyat in order to receive their ID cards as soon as possible.
The male resident from Ye township said “I made it [the 70 thousand kyat ID] because I was having problems going on a trip to make a living [migrating for work]”. He reported that he is planning on entering Burma’s neighboring country of Thailand as a legal migrant worker because he is unable to make a living in his native village, and he needed his ID as soon as possible.
A woman who recently waited three days to get her ID said “I spent 50 thousand kyat and waited 3 days”. She reported that she and two of her friends when through the ID-making process, and only paid 50 thousand kyat per ID because they had friends working in the Immigration Department office.
Ye residents reported that when asked, officers at the Ye Immigration Department claimed that the cost of the rush-made ID cards could be broken down to 50 thousand kyat for the cost of an ID, and 20 thousand kyat for the cost of a quick trip to Moulmein to obtain the necessary signature of the Mon State Immigration Department.
Another woman, aged 38 years old, told IMNA she believes that the Immigration Department’s government servants in Ye township are extorting excessive funds from people purchasing ID cards with the intention of traveling to neighboring countries. She claimed that civil servants delay the delivery of ID cards until their owners pay fees in addition to the 70 thousand kyat they’ve already spent.
High ID costs and extortion fees make traveling abroad as a legal migrant worker even more expensive, as residents must also travel to Rangoon to have passports made before they legally can travel abroad.
Migrating to Thailand for work is becoming an increasingly common practice in Burma, as many citizens find that working abroad, and sending earnings home to family members, is more profitable than working within Burma’s failing economic climate. Citizens from Ye Township claim that working in Thailand is customary for the majority of youth and young men in the area, partially because Ye Township shares a border with Thailand.
According to a Chauk kone villager from Ye Township who recently traveled to Rangoon to have a passport made for immigration purposes, 170 Burmese citizens from around the country were at the city’s passport office on the day he visited, most with the intention of becoming legal migrant workers. Individuals who wish to be legal migrant workers often choose to make passports before traveling abroad, especially if they are planning to move to countries like Malaysia or Singapore, where migrations restrictions are strict.
Even as Ye residents must pay exorbitant fees to obtain ID cards, field reporters claim that Immigration authorities in Mon State’s Paung Township are giving ID cards to quarter and village headmen; Paung residents who want the cards must only pay a small fee. Villagers from other townships in Mon State are unfortunately barred from the campaign.
