Myanmar tightens overseas travel rules for new seafarers

Myanmar will from Sept. 15 stop allowing newly recruited male seafarers and female seafarers to travel abroad for visits using Seafarer Myanmar Passports (PS), the Department of Marine Administration said.

Seafarers who need to travel overseas for visits will instead have to convert their PS passports to Passport for Visit (PV) passports through the Passport Issuing Office under the Ministry of Home Affairs before departure.

The department said the measure was aimed at preventing illegal recruitment and the exploitation of seafarers by unlicensed recruitment companies, intermediaries and brokers.

It cited cases in which seafarers were sent to work in Gulf countries instead of on ships, recruited onto unauthorized fishing vessels, denied proper wages because of weak or nonexistent employment contracts, or placed on vessels involved in smuggling, leading to arrests overseas.

Authorities also reported cases involving fraudulent sea-service records and ranks, and seafarers being sent to work without completing the required training.

The department said the new rule was intended to protect seafarers' employment rights, insurance coverage, wages and access to proper sea-service records and training.