At least 10,000 residents in southern Shan State’s Laikha Township do not hold either identity cards or household registration documents, according to a leading member of the local branch of the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD).

“There are about 50,000 people in Laikha,” Sai Kawng Kham, the head of SNLD’s Laikha office, told Shan Herald after his party had met with villagers on May 11. “However, more than 10,000 do not have ID cards.”

His comment came after the SNLD had arranged a series of meetings with villagers in Parngsang, Namlue, Thatmauk, Wanheng and Nong Kaw to listen to their problems and learn more about their communities.

“The villagers face several hurdles if they don’t have ID cards,” Sai Kawng Kham said. “They asked us to help them obtain IDs and household registration documents. They said that they originally wanted the government to come to their villages and make the documents for them because they live so far from any major town.”

He said that the reason so many villagers in that region do not have ID cards is because they never need them – they rarely if ever travel anywhere.

He added that those who do have IDs say they have never had to use them; some said they hid them under the roofing tiles of their thatched houses, and they sometimes became damaged.

On December 15, 2016, The Irrawaddy reported on its English website that of the 51 to 53 million citizens in Burma, only about 37 million own ID cards.

By Shan Herald Agency for News (SHAN)