The junta is putting pressure on Myanmar overseas workers continuously to transfer remittances to their families through the official banking system.
Private Overseas Employment Agencies (POEA) informed Myanmar workers working in South Korea to transfer remittances to their families through the official banking channels.
The workers in Korea need to transfer at least 25% of their salaries as remittances to their families either monthly or quarterly.
In October this year, Myanmar Union Minister of Labour told Myanmar workers during his visit to Laos that workers must transfer at least 25% of their salaries to their families in Myanmar through the official banking channels.
The Ministry of Labour has set a minimum for overseas workers’ salaries of 25% as a mandatory remittance to their families through official banking channels since last year.
The POEA which sent these workers overseas for employment must send a report regarding remittances transferred by workers not within five days of the end of each month without fail, regardless of receiving remittance documents or not.
The Ministry of Labour warned these POEAs that they would be fined if they failed to send these reports. They would also be suspended from submitting Demand Letters received from foreign employers to recruit workers.
The Labour Ministry also warned Myanmar overseas workers that they would be banned from exiting the country for employment, refused issuance of the Overseas Worker Identity Cards (OWIC) required for foreign employment, and refused extensions to their passports if they failed to abide with this mandatory minimum remittance regulation.
The Labour Ministry issued warning letters to nearly 300 employment agencies imposing fines and suspension from submission of Demand Letters to recruit new workers as they failed to submit reports on remittances with supporting documents.
In October this year, the Ministry announced that they banned 26 employment agencies from sending workers for foreign employment.
The Ministry of Labour announced that nearly 600 POEAs were registered with them for sending workers to foreign countries. These agencies are sending over 1,000 workers every month to foreign countries for employment.
