Young people disheartened by life in Myanmar following the coup are trying in growing numbers to leave the country and find work to help support their families, RFA reported.

More people are applying for passports at a recently reopened office in Yankin township in the Yangon region that had been closed amid a new surge of COVID-19 in Myanmar, an agent who helps would-be emigrants obtain travel papers told RFA last week.

Most of those trying to leave Myanmar are hoping to go to Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, and Japan, one man applying for a passport said, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons.