Passport office in Sittwe remains closed 

By Admin 24 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
24 February 2023, Sittwe

The passport office in the Arakan State capital Sittwe remained closed on Friday though the junta’s Information Ministry said passport offices across the country would reopen on February 24.

A source close to the passport office in Sittwe said the office would reopen in the next few days.  “They are preparing to reopen it on Monday [February 27]. But I am not sure,” said the source.

People can apply for passports over the internet using an online booking system as of February 24, the Information Ministry said on Wednesday. The internet booking service will be provided for Yangon passport office applicants alone, however, and applicants have to apply in person in other parts of the country, according to the ministry.

People in Arakan State seeking to leave the country are having difficulties as a result of the local passport office’s closure.

“I am from Sittwe, so I went to the office today, and I was told that the office was closed,” said Ko Kyaw Tin Tun, who is planning to leave the country. “But people from other parts of Arakan State also came because they had seen the news report online that the office would reopen today. But the office is still closed, and it has cost them travel expenses.”

Officials at the passport office in Sittwe declined to answer when asked when the office would reopen. The office has been closed since January 1.

Ko Maung Hla from Mrauk-U Township, who is preparing to leave for Malaysia, called for reopening the passport office as soon as possible.

“As I still haven’t gotten the passport, I can’t go abroad and work. I have been idle and can’t support my family. There are many people like me,” he said.

Many would-be passport holders have either sold or pawned their property, including houses, farms and cattle, to get the money needed to go abroad. 

“I have to pay the interest after I have pawned my land plot,” said Daw Than Than Shwe from Mingan Ward. “I am planning to work overseas as I can’t get a job here in Arakan, but I am in deeper trouble now [as I can’t leave],” she said.

Since the coup on February 1, 2021, unemployment has soared alongside price hikes in Arakan State, prompting an exodus of residents seeking better economic prospects overseas.

More than 23,000 passports were issued in Arakan State last year, which was higher than the average of previous years, according to civil society organisations.