Dozens of residents are leaving the state to pursue work abroad or in other area’s of Myanmar, participants at a dialogue organized by the Nyein Foundation said. It’s unclear how many of those residents return, and if they do come back, whether they stay.

The May 17-18 meeting in Mrauk-U focused on challenges in the state, including migration, farmland laws and the idealized federal system of governance.

The May 17 discussion focused on the challenges posed by a large exodus of migrant workers from Rakhine (Arakan) State, which is one of the poorest in the country.

U Zaw Win Tun, chair of the Arakan Patriot Party (APP), said participants proposed solutions in a roundtable discussion. One favored idea was to draft a law that would involve getting the state government and parliament to oversee the migrant work system.

A 2015 survey by the International Labour Organisation raised concerns nationally about “brain drain and brain waste”, as a large number of the country’s young, university-educated jobseekers turned overseas for work.

Over 40 representatives from political, social and civil society groups attended the Mrauk-U dialogue, which was held in a monastery.

Translated by Thida Linn
Edited by Laignee Barron