Myanmar migrant workers fleeing China’s Yunnan without pay

Myanmar migrant workers fleeing China’s Yunnan without pay
Chinese national flags flying on the border between Kokang and China’s Nansan township in Lincang, southwest China’s Yunnan province. Photo: AFP
Chinese national flags flying on the border between Kokang and China’s Nansan township in Lincang, southwest China’s Yunnan province. Photo: AFP

Migrant workers returning to Myanmar from China’s Yunnan province because of coronavirus fears are walking away from their jobs without receiving the pay owed to them, as their Chinese employers try to discourage them from leaving, RFA reported.

Nearly 1,000 have crossed the border at Myanmar’s Chinshwehaw town since Jan. 28, with around 350 crossing each day at Laukkaing, both in Myanmar’s Kokang Self-Administered Zone, sources say, adding that most had been employed in chili and eggplant plantations in remote areas of Yunnan.

Some are leaving without receiving their salary or money they have saved, because their bosses do not want them to leave, a resident of Yesagyo, a town in Myanmar’s Magway Division near the border, told RFA’s Myanmar Service in an interview.

More news from Mizzima
December 10, 2025
The Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN) released a new report on 9 December 2025 as part of their...
December 4, 2025
A midnight air strike launched by Myanmar junta forces on Nat Hmaw Oo village in the eastern...
Photo credit - CJ
December 3, 2025
In the third week of November 2025, local regime officials in Pindaya, Namzarng and Kunhing...
December 2, 2025
Clashes have erupted in Mogok, the key ruby-mining town in Mandalay Region, following the entry...