UN Agencies’ High Rents Spark Outcry

rent in Yangon is $79,000 a month, or $948,000 a year—more than 10 percent of its annual budget in the country.

U Min Ko Naing, a leading political activist, urged the UN to review how its agencies are using their money in Myanmar. International aid agencies “rarely earn respect from the people,” he said, because “their spending doesn’t reach those who really need it.”

Minister: PR System to Be in Place by October

A permanent residency (PR) system for foreign nationals will be implemented by October of this year, according to Minister of Immigration and Population U Khin Yi.

Revelations about how much United Nations aid agencies are paying to rent properties in Yangon have prompted many in Myanmar to question their spending priorities in the country.

The outcry began in late May, when The Irrawaddy revealed that the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) pays $87,000 a month in rent for a property believed to be owned by a member of Myanmar’s former military junta.

Since then, the World Health Organization has disclosed that its

While many were critical of the UN agencies, others blamed the situation on the fact that after nearly 50 years of military rule, most of Yangon’s real estate is in the hands of ex-generals or their cronies.

“Most of the [international nongovernmental organizations] and UN agencies have to rent their houses, so such aid money is going into the generals’ pockets,” said U Kyaw Lin Oo, the executive director of the Myanmar People Forum Working Group. “Rich people are getting richer and richer.”

Kyaw Hsu Mon and Simon Lewis

“We will allow a PR system in four months, not later than October. The duration of permitted stay will start with a five-year term,” the minister told The Irrawaddy, adding that the system would take a four-tiered approach in weighing candidates.

“First, we will invite intellectuals and technicians, which the country needs. Secondly, [we] will invite investors. Third, former Myanmar citizens. Finally, we will also accept Myanmar citizens and members of their extended families who have studied abroad or gone abroad for various other reasons,” he said.

“Those who apply cannot enlist as civil servants or found a [political] party,” the minister added. —Kyaw Kha