SINGAPORE, July 5 (Reuters) - Senior foreign executives of major telecommunications firms in Myanmar have been told by the junta that they must not le

EXCLUSIVE After pressuring telecom firms, Myanmar's junta bans executives from leaving

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2021-07-05 10:00:04

SINGAPORE, July 5 (Reuters) - Senior foreign executives of major telecommunications firms in Myanmar have been told by the junta that they must not leave the country without permission, a person with direct knowledge of the matter said.

A confidential order from Myanmar’s Posts and Telecommunications Department (PTD) in mid-June said senior executives, both foreigners and Myanmar nationals, must seek special authorisation to leave the country, the person said.

A week later, telecom companies were sent a second letter telling them they had until Monday July 5 to fully implement intercept technology they had previously been asked to install to let authorities spy on calls, messages and web traffic and to track users by themselves, the source said. Reuters has not seen the orders.

The directives follow pressure on the companies from the junta, which is facing daily protests from its opponents and a growing number of insurgencies to activate the spyware technology. read more