Mizzima
The military junta’s Ministry of Labour issued a stern warning on 25 March, targeting migrant workers who attempt to bypass official recruitment channels. Under the new directive, workers who submit fraudulent reports such as posing as returning employees on leave to avoid mandatory pre-departure training and medical exams will be blacklisted and prohibited from traveling abroad for a specified period.
Both individual workers and the organizations or brokers assisting them will face investigation and prosecution under the 1999 Overseas Employment Law and other relevant regulations.
This crackdown follows a 2025 policy that strictly limited the number of workers foreign employment agencies could send abroad, with some agencies restricted to just 15 recruits per month.
As a result, some new workers began making their own arrangements, as there were not enough slots available through official agencies, according to the owner of a foreign employment agency.
“If you register with the agency, it can only register 15 people per month, leaving some workers unregistered. So, they just make their own arrangements. In the past, when supervision was weak, this couldn’t be monitored. Later, when checks were reinstated, many didn’t return from leave. They knew these were new workers planning to leave, which is why regulations were tightened,” an owner of an agency said.
After enacting the People’s Military Service Law in February 2024, further restrictions were imposed on workers’ rights to work abroad.
In January 2026, holders of the Overseas Worker Identification Card (OWIC) were instructed to obtain permission from the junta’s Department of Labor before traveling abroad, and those returning from overseas were required to report at the airport arrivals counter.
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