"Myanmar’s ban on male workers going abroad may worsen Thai labor shortage,"

Myanmar’s ban on men going abroad to work could cause a labor crunch in Thailand, where workers from its neighbor have for years helped sustain growth, industry groups said.

The ban by Myanmar’s junta, to augment its depleted military amid battles with insurgent groups fighting to end military rule, has meant no fresh permits have been issued for conscription-age men hoping to find jobs abroad.

Now about half of the 250,000 Burmese workers in Thailand find themselves in legal limbo as their Myanmar government-issued work permits expire, with no indication Myanmar will renew them, said Roisai Wongsuban, an adviser for the Thailand-based Migrant Working Group.

“There are some 150,000 Myanmar workers ending their tenures, as per the MOUs, who have to renew necessary documents with the home government,” Roisai told Radio Free Asia (RFA), an affiliate of BenarNews, referring to memorandums of understanding on migrant workers between the neighboring nations.

“It is unclear whether they are subject to the ban. Some are afraid to go back home to renew their paperwork. … They fear they won’t be allowed to come back.”...