Travelers’ National Registration Cards (NRC) and their census are checked, and if those are not local residents, they are sent back to their hometowns after asking for money without allowing to enter the town, at all airports nationwide Myanmar, since February 15, according to travelers.
“As soon as travelers got off the plane, the junta troops took all the passengers to the Pathein City Hall and asked those to check their registration cards and show the census. If those are non-residents, they are forced to return to their hometown on the flight that will leave in the evening,” a woman who personally encountered Pathein airport told MPA.
The junta troops conducted inspections and the travelers who are non-residents are being charged 100,000 Kyats per person for no reason, she added.
“The cost of the plane ticket was also quite high. Besides, I was forced to pay 100,000 Kyats to the junta troops because they said I was not a local resident, and I was sent back with my baby child to my hometown. My child was in trouble. My husband was unable to come with us. We were in trouble on the way,” she said.
“I went to Mawlamyine town for my entertainment job, but the junta troops at Mawlamyine Airport didn’t know me. Even when the event’s local organizers came to call me at the airport, they (junta) didn’t allow me to enter the town. They said they didn’t believe me because I was a non-local resident, so I canceled the event and returned to Yangon,” said a male singer who did not want to be named.
He explained that the junta troops initially restricted air travel only to areas close to the fighting, but Yangon Airport also had similar checks, and non-Yangon residents were only allowed to enter the city after paying money.
A person close to the airport says, “After the activation of the mandatory military service law on last February 10, the junta has restricted the right of departure abroad by air, but those who must leave anyway are allowed to leave with a recommendation letter from the relevant ward administrator.”
“If non-residents pay money demanded by the junta troops at the airports of Yangon, Nay Pyi Taw and Mandalay, they are allowed to enter the city, but they are not allowed at other airports,” he said.
The junta has reportedly announced that disabled people, people with poor health and students are allowed to travel by plane, but those _ who will travel by plane _ must request permission to ride with a recommendation letter from the relevant ward administrator.