By Editor Dec 25, 2023

The Junta’s announcement that 2 percent of the tax and 25 percent of the basic salary must be returned to the families of migrant workers who work abroad is becoming difficult for migrant workers abroad.

The majority of Burmese migrant workers arrive in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, China, Korea, and Japan. Various embassies representing the military council have announced that the coup government in Myanmar will collect 2 percent of the salary income of migrant workers as tax.

As a consequence of the military coup, the entire local population has been living with the various injustices, threats and murders by the military group, and now the lives of the migrant workers are now being threatened.

Regarding these conditions, the crisis has come to the migrant workers who supported financially through the whole Spring Revolution, and labor activists have pointed out and criticized the work of the National Unity Government, which lacks a stand to speak out about these conditions.

“First of all, I would like to say that the workers should feel that they are being robbed. The actions of this army are acting like a gang of robbers. Whether it is fair or unfair, they do any process to get hands on their money. Doing whatever they want under the title of tax even in the whole country, the first thing the workers will feel is that they have been robbed, and the second thing is that they will be angry. They have to go to work overseas due to situations but the family are still there, so there are reasons why they can’t come back. They will be very upset about that. They will be worried if their family would be threatened. They had to give their wages knowingly that it was unfair. And when they don't know how to solve this, they will start to think to become a citizen, so that they won't have to pay these guys anymore, and  won't be unfairly employed anymore,” said a labor activist regarding the Junta’s footsteps.

Migrant workers arriving in Korea and China will have to pay the amount of tax on their foreign income starting from October 1. It was announced on December 5 that workers holding PJ and PB passports will be able to pay income tax alone when their passports are extended from December 11th, and those who have extended their passports can come to pay income taxes too. 

For Japan, the base salary is calculated at 200,000 yen, and 2 of that 4,000 yen minus stipend of 2,000 yen have to be paid. It is said that those who are less than that must pay tax depending on their ability to pay.

Myanmar citizens arriving in Singapore will have to pay taxes starting on December 12th, and only after paying income tax from October until the time of their renewal, the extension of the passport and consular issues will be handled. The amount of tax to be paid is 2 percent of the income tax based on the type of residence permit.

Similarly, Myanmar nationals in Malaysia have to pay income tax and deal with consular issues including passport issues, so the embassy has announced that income tax will be charged at 2 percent from October 2023 to March 2024.

The military council said that collecting income tax from expatriate Myanmar citizens is to support Myanmar's public welfare activities such as education, health, transportation, etc.

The migrant workers do not want to pay taxes to the Military Council and they want some kind of guarantees for the subsequent issues that arise upon the announcements of the various embassies of the military council. Last December 17, Burmese workers in Thailand protested against the 2 percent taxing.

It appears that neither the National Unity Government nor NUG’s Ministry of Labor have made any statement regarding the military council's extortion and coercion against Burmese citizens in exile.

Last December 21, the National Unity Government announced that it was grateful that Burmese migrant workers joined forces in the financial struggle when the military council was pressuring them to obtain foreign currency. In addition to this, we see that there is no guarantee or commitment of any kind for the migrant workers.

"While the NUG government is not yet internationally recognized, even if it cannot provide effective help, it can make promises. What they are doing is putting pressure on the workers and encouraging them not to pay taxes. Their solution is just to let the workers without them participating. Like in the past, when we asked people not to pay the electricity bill, but when it actually happened, when the ones who don’t pay were arrested, they couldn't solve it because it was far from reality. If we can't take responsibility, those issues become something to think about,” a local labor activist criticized the actions of the National Unity Government.

Foreign migrant workers say that they do not want to follow the path set by the Military Council to transfer the 2% income tax and 25% of the basic salary.

"As I just said, there will be a few people who really want to get foreign citizenship, but there will be also people who want to live with their families on their own soil. They would hope for a situation that would be peaceful. They donated their income to the revolution because of this," said the labor activist.

During the current Spring Revolution, a parallel government called National Unity Government was formed to resist the coup d'état military council and expatriate workers were the main contributors to the financing of a government's standing fund.

Today, the National Unity Government has reached a term, but labor activists are criticizing the fact that it should not ignore the problems of migrant workers who provided financially and lack of support currently.

"It is not an easy matter for workers to resolve such issues, because on the other hand, there are many difficulties at the moment. On the other hand, they are facing a gang of robbers. At that time, since the formation of the National Unity Government, many ministries have been formed. Not more than 2 or 3 ministries are active and do something a bit, which means that from the beginning until now, whether it is the Ministry of Labor or some departments, many departments are not active. Not active can also means that they don’t try themselves. However, at this time, it should be question that if the donations received from the migrant workers are only used just for fund raising. Because it's not only about the migrant Workers issue of the Ministry of Labor. Nothing is improving for the local workers too. They should start to prepare. If they can't do it, they should be sorry for the workers who supported them and the Ministry should not use those budgets,” a local labor activist raised questions about the stance on the workers.

Whether the actions of the Junta are to reduce the support issues of expatriate Burmese workers during the spring revolution or to fulfill the wishes in need of foreign income, the revolutionary government should stand to a certain extent against the threat and coercion of the military council, he said.

The Military Council’s taxing over expatriate workers may affected the need to renew passports and if they stop the renewals, the workers would become overstayers and there would be so much trouble, said a worker in Japan. 

"There are people who go with the agency and go through the installment system. 25% is like a mandatory for all of them. They don't want to pay taxes to the military council. They are thinking about whether there is another way. Some of them are thinking about not renewing their passports, and some are even thinking about applying for Japanese citizenship," said a Burmese worker.

Workers arriving in Japan have difficulties in paying the 2 percent tax set by the Military Council, which is about ¥2,000, and they do not want it to be a source of money that will flow to the military. 

Due to such crises, there may be difficulties in renewing passports and working in Japan. They said that they are having a hard time as they have to bear taxes of up to 30 percent in Japan too, and because of the rising cost of living and the lack of saving.

As expatriate migrant workers, they want to avoid as much as possible the flow of money to the military council, and they are devising various ways to avoid paying taxes, he said.

"The main thing is that we don't want to pay taxes. We think we don't have to pay taxes. In Japan, we have to pay about 30 percent of taxes per month. Including the income tax and all other taxes. Now we don't think we have to pay this, and we don't want to pay it. We don't want to pay because they are looking for a way to get foreign currency. We try to make money transaction as much as possible without transferring to them, but the people who come with the agency have things they have to do mandatory, and they can't afford to deny it," said a person working in Japan.

As oversea Myanmar citizens, there are some problems in returning to Myanmar and renewing their passports. It is reported that they are also worried that the Junta will use threats and coercion to enumerate their families in Myanmar.

"Actually, we have no experience with this, so it would be nice if someone could give us some advice on how to do it best," said the worker.

At this time, the International Labor Organizations, which is an international organization that is financially self-supporting without resisting the Junta, cannot condemn the military and remains silent when it commits injustices against the workers.

"Another thing is that we don’t hear anything from the UN organizations about this tax issue. And as far as I know, the ILO's relationship with the military group is still weaker than it was during the time of Than Shwe, and they themselves are agencies that fill the military group's treasury with dollars. All the UN agencies will receive money for projects from there and then it will go into the military council bank.

They will get only the exchange rate of 2100 kyats per 1 dollar and they will get it as approved by the army and not at the outside price. So, it seems like they themselves are providing the Junta with dollars. Before the ILO can save the workers, they must save themselves,” the labor activist criticized the status of international organizations in Myanmar. 

The military council's tax collection on migrant workers can be viewed as killing two birds with one stone. Although the military group does not shame away from doing dishonorable actions against the people, the people's government needs to do the right thing and cannot continue in nominative only.

"What I would like to say is that the people who have ministerial-level responsibilities in the ministry need to be aware of their responsibilities and take action, such as issuing letters and informing the workers, or doing these things showing that they can do it. It seems that they pretend not to know. They realize only when they do campaigns. It's been 3 years since they pretend that those aren’t working are being well. If they continue like this, the workers will weaken to continue to push. Although they want to do in their mind, but the workers are oppressed and the revolutionary fund will be also reduced,” they said.

"If they believe in ourselves as a government and formed the ministries, we can see them as a government and respect as a government only if they try to stand up to their responsibilities and honors. And the workers will also trust them. They said it is a government and ministries. a ministry. We cannot see it as a ministry as it cannot do even the part of the CSO’s work whilst not including the whole ministry’s work. We cannot see the government as a government,” they said. 

Since the employment opportunities have disappeared in the country due to high prices and the lack of law and order after the coup, most of the Myanmar youth who are able to work have to leave various foreign countries in various ways and become migrant workers.

Some of these migrant workers actively participated in the 3-year period of the Spring Revolution by raising funds to support the National Unity Government, a revolutionary government, and donating the sweat of their wages.

It is said that the migrant workers need to organize and respond to the unjust threats and coercion of the military coup d'état.

"What I want to say to the workers is to condemn as much as possible. Even if the NUG doesn't do it, workers gather together and ask the international community, send a letter to the government they work for and ask them. They won't solve it but we need to make everyone aware of the injustice of the Junta.  If everyone is united, open an account, ask for comments, collect signatures from the international Burmese communities and send to the strong international organizations. It is need to be do unitedly,” he said in his opinion.