Police in northern Ye Township are taxing migrant workers returning from Thailand and Malaysia, say local sources.

“Police are waiting at the entrance gate of our village. If they receive information about migrants returning home, they will wait for the migrant workers at the gate. One person has to pay 10,000 kyat,” said a migrant worker who recently returned from Thailand to Thabyay Ywa Thit village. “If they do not see the migrant worker in the evening, they will come to the worker’s home the next morning and demand money,” he added.

“When we come back along the road, we do not need to pay checkpoint taxes because we pay the whole cost to the broker [to organize the trip back from Thailand]. But when we arrive at our village, the police specially demand the money. If we do not pay them 10,000 kyat, our belongings on the bus would be seized,” agreed a villager who recently returned to nearby Hnitkayin village. “The police frighten people, and we have to pay. People who sneak home have to pay 20,000 kyat as a fine.”

According to a veteran broker with five years experience ferrying migrant workers to and from Thailand, the taxation began when a new police captain was posted to the area in September 2007. “The former police chief never did his job like this,” she said. “When we went to the headman to make a complaint, he told us we should pay because if we pay there will be no quarrel.”

The police captain controls four villages, but the taxation could only be confirmed in Hnitkayin and Thabyay Ywa Thit villages. Other nearby villages not under the captain’s control, including Thaungpyin, Taung bone and Andin confirmed that similar taxes are not levied.

Taxation of the four villages is likely to earn the captain significant extra income. In just the last three weeks, the broker estimated that 100 people had returned to Hnitkayin and Thabyay Ywa Thit villages. Those numbers are higher than normal because many of the workers were returning for an important festival, the broker added.

A large portion of the population, however, is working in Thailand. Hnitkayin, the largest of the four villages, is home to over 1,000 households. According to a longtime resident, 80% of working age people are abroad as migrant workers. “Only young people and their grandparents are left,” she said.