28-05-2025
Many Myanmar technical trainees unable to come to Japan after March quake
Two months have passed since a devastating earthquake hit central Myanmar.
Japan's Immigration Services Agency says many people hoping to come to the country to work, such as foreign technical trainees, are unable to do so because they cannot get official documentation.
The agency says issuance by Myanmar's labor ministry of Overseas Worker Identification Cards needed for employment abroad has been delayed, partly due to the quake.
Morikubo Natsuki, a certified administrative procedures legal specialist based in Tokyo, offers support for foreign technical interns. He says because of Myanmar's continuing civil war, many trainees are trying to get jobs in Japan, which is considered a safe country.
He says interns from Myanmar have high Japanese language skills and that many are accepted in the nursing industry in Japan, which is struggling with a worker shortage.
But Morikubo says an increasing number of staffing agencies in Myanmar and Japanese businesses are asking for advice amid the delay in issuing the cards. He says some companies have withdrawn their job offers.
Morikubo says Japanese firms that take in Myanmar trainees should consider that it will take time for the workers to arrive in Japan.
He says: "I hope companies will not immediately withdraw their job offers for Myanmar trainees. Firms should wait and closely watch the situation in Myanmar, while finding parallel solutions during that difficult time such as recruiting workers from other countries."
