Driven out by poverty, unemployment and hopelessness, almost three-quarters of young men in some Rakhine State townships have left to find work elsewhere. Though many make for Kachin State or Yangon, others spend a small fortune on brokers’ fees to work illegally in Thailand or Malaysia, local residents say.
In an interview in December, a volunteer with the NGO Tan Lan said that in Minbya and Myebon townships, some 74 percent of young men had emigrated because of poverty and natural disasters.
According to the 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census, 115, 502 Rakhine household members were living abroad, of which 94,000 were men. Of the total number of Rakhine migrants, over 74,000 of them were in Thailand and over 28,000 in Malaysia.
Though migrants from Tanintharyi Region townships such as Dawei and Myeik are said to earn enough in Thailand or Malaysia to support their families, this seems not to be the case in Rakhine State.
Married men who go off to find work overseas leave the burden on the wives and children they leave behind.
It can cost K800,000 to get a job in Thailand or Malaysia, money that is paid to brokers, with interest to be paid on the loan. The wives must make the repayments, as well as finding the living costs for themselves and their children. (Courtesy of Myanmar Times)
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