Myanmar ministry of immigration and population on 5 March announced that it would not allow the people to travel with a letter of recommendation, which is usually issued by the village/ward administrators, from April next.

The travellers will be allowed with the citizenship registration (ID card) only inside Myanmar.

The citizens will be required to show a citizenship card at hotels and they will be checked for a registration card when traveling by air or land or water ways. The process will begin from  6 am on 1 April, said a statement of the concerned department.

“If the authorities want to do this, they need to issue citizenship cards to all citizens,” said Ann Thar Gyi, chairman of Rakhine Union Solidarity and Development Association.

“As a Burmese citizen, we have the right to go anywhere inside Burma and enjoy the right to stay any place. If a registration card becomes necessary, the government should issue it at the earliest to all citizens,” added Ann Thar Gyi.

He also urged the authority to look into the matter of illegal payments often demanded by some officers for issuing the citizenship cards.

The department has announced that from 3 May to 3 November 2022, the registration cards would be issued for persons  above 16 years of age.

It asserted that holding a fake registration card or an extra entity is recognised as a crime under the existing laws.