Myanmar reopens foreign work applications amid draft turmoil

BANGKOK/YANGON -- Myanmar's military government on Monday resumed processing permit requests for male citizens seeking to work abroad, ending a short-lived halt imposed in an apparent effort to curb a surge in young adults trying to flee conscription.

Multiple foreign employment agencies said they had been informed by the labor ministry that it was accepting applications again, after suspending them from the start of this month. Whether they will be processed at the same scale and speed as before remains unclear, according to the agencies.