Burma: Information on sanctions for leaving the country and staying abroad illegally
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 May 1990 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | BUR5173 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Burma: Information on sanctions for leaving the country and staying abroad illegally, 1 May 1990, BUR5173, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac6ab4.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
According to the most recent United States Department of State's report on human rights in the world, "Burmese who leave the country illegally cannot legally return". [ U.S. Department of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1989, (Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1990), p.787.] An American authority on Burma, currently teaching at the State University of New York, indicated that the government generally ask Burmese who leave the country to make a deposit (that constitutes a type of tax) that the family left behind will have to pay if the emigrant does not come back. [ Telephone conversation of 15 May 1990.] According to the source, this payment constitutes the most common type of sanction. [ Ibid.] A Burmese Professor at the Northern Illinois University's Center for Burma Studies stated that there is likely to be no stipulation on the exit permit as to whether the holder can work or study abroad. [ Telephone conversation of 15 May 1990.] Sanctions would be harsh, however, on suspected dissidents; by association, Western-educated students could be suspected of support for the 1988 student democracy movement. [ Ibid.] This information could not be corroborated by published sources available to the IRBDC at the present time.
