In an effort to control the spread of COVID-19, Colonel Nay Htut Oo, the Minister of Mon State’s Security and Border Affairs has sent a letter to the New Mon State Party (NMSP) on behalf of the State Chief Minister dated April 21st. The letter called for joint cooperation by encouraging Myanmar migrant workers returning from Thailand to only pass through Myawaddy border.
In an interview with Mon News Agency (MNA), NMSP‘s Internal Affairs spokesperson, Nai Banyar Lel said, “Migrant workers returning to [Myanmar] after April 30 will pass through the Myawaddy border. As the government wants those returnees to go [directly] into a community based quarantine camp that has been arranged. There will be fewer people arriving on our side. However, if [more people arrive] we have also arranged a quarantine camp for them.”
On April 25th, the NMSP headquarters instructed the Three Pagoda Township Administrative office to prevent returnees from Thailand to pass through the Three Pagoda Pass border. All returnees must enter Myanmar only from the Myawaddy border.
Returnees attempting to return home via the Three Pagoda Pass border in Sangkhlaburi District, Kanchanaburi Province, will likely be stranded in rubber plantations near Guu Bar village which is a New Mon State Party controlled-area.
Additional difficulties for returnees include a 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew that remains in effect. Observers believe that Myanmar migrant workers will not yet be able to return to their homes due to travel restrictions and curfews that exist between different jurisdictions.
Thousands of Myanmar migrant workers have been waiting to return home after the closure of many businesses and factories in Thailand.
On April 26th, in accordance with the country’s health directives to contain the spread of the C-19 virus, the Myanmar Labor Attaché Office based in Bangkok, Thailand informed Myanmar migrant workers planning to return before April 30, that they are required to complete a form in order to make the necessary arrangements The form can be found at this link https://forms.gle/kbxdZLLVbmDM7NYJ9
Migrant workers who are living in Thailand without proper documentation can return home from the Mae Sot-Myawaddy route by registering their names and ID numbers at the above link.
All returnees are required to remain in a strict quarantine for a total of 28 days. This includes 21-days at a community-based quarantine facility, where their health will be monitored. If they show no symptoms, returnees may then be allowed to continue directly to their home communities where they must remain in a strict home quarantine environment for an additional 7-days.
