Three-week quarantine for returning migrant workers

06 May 2020
Three-week quarantine for returning migrant workers
Myanmar nationals wearing facemasks amid concerns over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus speak with officials at the immigration post in Myawaddy near the Thai border on March 23, 2020, as thousands of people crossed from Thailand as the border crossings were due to close because of the growing pandemic. Photo: AFP

Myanmar’s military and authorities in the country’s capital Naypyidaw are mandating a three-week coronavirus quarantine for migrant workers returning from Thailand, with about 600 returnees now expected in a new group of arrivals, RFA reported.

More than 150,000 migrant laborers have returned since March after losing their factory and farm jobs in both Thailand and China. They left when owners temporarily shuttered plants or scaled back hiring amid the spread of the coronavirus.

Naypyidaw Council director U Tun Tun Win told RFA’s Myanmar Service the 600 returnees expected in Naypyidaw have not yet arrived, adding, “When they come, they will be placed at the No. 3 Interrogation and Lodging Camp,” a facility run by the Myanmar military.