SHAN STATE – The two staff guarding at the passport office in Taunggyi City reportedly demanded a payment of 300,000 Kyats from each applicant.
Seven passport applicants on December 27 morning had to pay while those who refused to pay were denied entrance.
“They asked for the citizenship scrutiny card and the family register, demanded 300,000 Kyats to apply for a passport and said that those who don’t pay can leave while those who paid will be immediately brought into the office to start the procedure. No more questions were asked. They denied our request to go into the office and inquire as well. They were definitely not agents,” said a person who personally applied for passport.
They added that four men in civvies who claimed to be police also helped the guards with the extortion.
The passport applicants were issued tokens from September 27 to October 6 but they had to be accompanied by agents after that.
“It was an extortion. It’s not even for sure that they were from the police. I had to pay as I urgently needed (the passport). It can’t be helped. It would have cost the same if we did it through agents as well,” shared another passport applicant.
The applicants who were supposed to receive their passports in the last week of October are also said to be facing delay after delay by the staff and are yet to receive the passports even in the last week of December.
Currently, applying for passport has become extremely expensive and the junta council has also demanded that Myanmar workers abroad must pay 2% of their income if they wish to renew their passports.